A/N: Carrie's having a baby…

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WARNING: This chapter is rated M due to the nature of what is to come.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me. And the list of those I do own is getting so incredibly long that I am just going to say that I own anyone who does not come directly from Criminal Minds.

Chapter 2

March 2014

Jack looked around the living room of the house of their new school friend as Toby came to stand beside him and felt vaguely uneasy for some reason he couldn't figure out as he took in the very blonde haired and blue eyed features on the portraits lining the wall above the fireplace. Looking at the clock, he saw that they had only been there for an hour and it would be another eight before they were picked up.

Gabriel White was with his parents and sister praying at that moment. They had been invited to join in, but neither boy had felt comfortable with the idea, so they waited for him in this front room that felt so clean and sterile, he almost didn't want to sit down.

Toby moved closer and whispered, "I want to go home already. Why is that?"

"I don't know," Jack whispered just as softly as they heard voices coming closer.

They turned to see Gabriel walk back into the room, smiling at them in his friendly way. "Mum is bringing in morning tea for us and we'll all have a chat before we go outside to play. I'm so excited that there is sunshine outside today; I have a new toy I thought we could play with."

Both boys perked up a bit at that before sitting on the couch with Gabriel as his mum and sister walked into the room carrying a tray each. Then his father walked in and they all sat down. Jack was glad to see glasses of milk instead of cups of tea on the tray for them, though he wasn't too keen to see little sandwiches instead of the fruit he was used to having at this time of the morning. But remembering his mother's instructions on being a polite guest, he took a sandwich and said nothing about the lack of fruit as Gabriel's father asked them about what parts of school they liked.

"I like to play soccer," Toby said with considerable enthusiasm. "That's where I first met Gabriel."

Gabriel's father nodded approval and turned to look at Jack, who smiled shyly. "I love art, particularly drawing. I also play soccer, but I prefer to draw."

Toby didn't like the slight frowns of the family across from them so he jumped in quickly to defend his best friend. "Jack's teachers all say he has a real gift for art that they have never seen in someone so young."

Mr. White shook his head slightly and looked at his wife, who smiled pleasantly. "Have either of you boys travelled much?"

Jack shook his head, happy to change the subject. "No, not really. My family and I go out to the country every now and again to where my Grandma has a country home, but I haven't ever been out of the state."

"Toby?"

Toby was not liking how Jack was being treated based on the answers he was giving, but he too remembered to be polite. "Mum and I travelled a fair bit before we settled here in Virginia, but not out of the country. But Mum went to India where she met my Dad years before she had me and now they're talking about taking me there so I can see where my Dad is from. I'm very excited about this, because Jack might be coming with us."

"So your Dad spent a lot of time in India growing up?" Gabriel's older sister Sarah asked carefully.

Toby shook his head. "Nope, Dad is from India."

"Are you sure you don't mean that he just visited a lot or lived there for many years?"

Toby's enthusiasm on talking about his new father turned into a frown in the face of the frowns being directed at him. "No," he said slowly. "Dad is Indian, and has…"

"Oh dear, I don't think I'm feeling all that well," Mrs. White interrupted.

Toby stopped speaking and exchanged a confused look with Jack, who was just as confused about the sudden onset of illness Mrs. White had just mentioned. Gabriel jumped up to help his mother out of the room as Mr. White stood looking at them with his hands on his hips.

"You boys will need to contact your mothers to come and pick you up now. Come with me and we'll call them."

Not wanting to be rude, neither boy argued as they were led to the phone in the kitchen. The children had returned and now watched them closely as their father handed them the phone.

"We'll have to clean down the whole house after they go Dad," Sarah said with a slight edge to the tone of her voice as first Jack tried his parents, and then Toby called his father when Jack couldn't get through, both of them having to leave messages about what was happening. He hesitated before dialling his mother's number, hoping that she hadn't turned it off while she rested so that they could get out of this weird place yet at the same time hoping she had so that his call wouldn't wake her.

"Hello?"

He winced at the bleary voice he heard. "Mum? Sorry to wake you up, but Mrs. White isn't feeling well anymore and she needs me and Jack to be picked up."

"Jack and I," his mother corrected automatically, making him smile. "Did you call your father?"

"Yes, but it just went to voicemail. Jack even called his parents first, but the same thing happened. I didn't want to wake you, but they said that we needed to get picked up straight away."

She sighed tiredly. "It's not your fault sweetheart, I'm just so tired is all. I'll be there in just over an hour."

"Thanks Mum, we'll be ready to go when you get here."

"I appreciate that sweetheart. See you soon."

He hung up the call and turned to Mr. White. "My mum will be here to pick us up in about an hour."

The man nodded abruptly and herded them back into the living room, telling them to be quiet while they waited before they were left all alone.

"Jack, what's going on?" Toby whispered, confusion laced all through his voice.

Jack hesitated before speaking. "I'm not really sure. Do you remember that day we were out with Derek and Jordan and Ben at the park and we made friends with the kid on the swings? Then it started raining so the three of us ran for the shelter where the adults were waiting out of the rain and the boy introduced us to his mum. She was really nice to us until Derek and Jordan came up with Ben and then she grabbed her son and stalked off, even though it was still raining."

Toby nodded. "We asked what had happened and Derek said some people in the world won't like you cause of the colour of your skin or cause you believe or like something different from them. I didn't really understand it, cause what does that have to do with whether you are nice or not or whether you can be friends?"

"I didn't really understand it either. But I think that is happening here. I think they don't like that we are different and that Mirkal comes from a different country from them."

Sensing Toby's distress over the thought that he might have to choose between a new friend and his father, Jack moved closer and gave him a hug. Then they sat quietly and waited, trying hard not to fidget as they counted down the minutes until Carrie arrived.

New Section

Carrie's fury over the realisation that her son and 'her' Jack had been kicked out of a friend's house over the colour of her husband's skin completely pushed aside her exhaustion and nausea. Looking at the disgusted faces this family was pulling as they looked at her belly made her want to slap them, but she instead decided to take the higher ground.

"Do you know, I think that all of you lack something essential by limiting who you interact with and who you allow into your family. You're so white-bread that it makes me sick to think of my son and Jack having to interact with you further because there is absolutely nothing to the lot of you that I want either of them to pick up or learn from. I pity your narrow-mindedness and I pity you for what you won't get to experience because you are all so incredibly colour-blind. And I wish you all positions of little power in life where you find yourselves managed by people of colour, because at least they won't look at you as if you are worth nothing. Boys, let's go."

Wide-eyed with awe, Toby and Jack followed Carrie out of the house and to the car, climbing in to the back and doing up their seatbelts quickly as the woman turned on the car and gunned the engine in reverse, muttering to herself all the way.

"Of all the narrow-minded, inconsiderate, stupid, ridiculous…"

She stopped muttering at the realisation that she was repeating herself and concentrated on driving on the winding roads as the small town an hour away from the city fell away to be replaced by forest on both sides of the road. And because she was concentrating so intently on the road, the extremely powerful contraction that suddenly gripped her did little more than cause her to swerve slightly in her lane before she pulled the vehicle to the side of the road. She breathed deeply through the rest of the pain, grateful that it didn't last long considering how strong it was.

"Are you alright Mum?"

She opened eyes she hadn't even realised she'd closed and swallowed hard. If this was it and she wasn't able to get them back to the city, it was possible that one or both of the boys was going to get an incredible eyeful they didn't particularly need at such a young age. Pulling out her cell phone confirmed what she already knew.

"We're just going to sit here for a few minutes to see what hap…"

She whimpered at the feeling of her waters breaking as another contraction ripped through her body. The memory of her last labour mocked her; delivering Toby had been a nightmare of long hours and Vincent's flirting with every woman in sight while he picked at her inability to endure what her doctor had assured her was more than usual pain for a woman giving birth to a child. But as this contraction eased, she remembered that her baby's father loved her more than anything, and he loved her son as his own. Vincent had left her weak and vulnerable but the strength Mirkal imparted to her through his love and devotion meant that she'd never been stronger than she was right now. So even if she ended up having to deliver her daughter in this car, while they were stuck in the middle of nowhere with no reception, she knew, deep down where it mattered, that she could do this…and everything would be alright.

She blew out the breath she'd been unconsciously holding and turned her head carefully to look at the two frightened boys in the back seat.

"I'm sorry boys, but I think I'm going to be having the baby in this car before too long. I'll call 911 and hopefully they will get here quickly; I'm just not sure they will be in time. I need you both to jump out of the backseat on my side of the car so I can lie down in the back. You can both stand behind the car and try to flag someone down to help me but if you move away from the car I swear…" her words petered off into a long groan and several panting breaths before she was able to finish her thought. "If either of you move away from the back of the car for any reason, I will skin you alive. Do you understand?"

They nodded and quickly got out of the car, helping her into the back. Jack pulled out his water bottle and offered it to her as she made her call to emergency services and stressed her need for immediate help as another contraction caused her to cry out in pain. They moved to the back of the car as Toby wrung his hands.

"What if something happens to my sister? There's no one to help Mum."

"We're here," Jack stated firmly, putting an arm around Toby's shoulders. He didn't feel that confident about being able to help, but he'd keep Toby calm and he'd do his best to help if it came to that. And since his mother said it was always a good idea to pray in a tricky situation, he thought he should probably do that too.

New Section

Emily checked her watch briefly before slowing for the upcoming curve in the road and winced as she realised what the time was. She'd gotten Jack's message just as she was leaving the girls for the play date with their new friends from day care, but that had been almost an hour and a half ago. She didn't know if anyone else was on the way to collect the boys, since no one else was picking up their calls, and she could only hope that the Whites were okay with keeping an eye on them a little bit longer.

Slowing further for a particularly sharp curve in the road, she very briefly checked the babies in the backseat to see that they were sound asleep. Focusing again on the road as the car eased around the bend, she frowned to see Carrie's car sitting along the side of the road and no one in sight.

"What on earth…" she murmured softly as she pulled over. She didn't really want to leave the boys in the car, but a scream from the other side of the road had her turning off the engine quickly and locking the car behind her as she bolted to the other side of the road.

Noting the direction of the vehicle, she was relieved to see Jack, and slightly amused at how relieved he was to see her. She gave him a quick hug and handed him the keys.

"Your brothers are sleeping in the back seat. Where's Toby?" Jack pointed towards the backseat and she nodded. "I'll send him over with you while I help Carrie, but I need the both of you to keep an eye on the boys. Okay?"

He nodded vigorously as she moved up behind Toby, who was so tense that her hand on his shoulder caused him to let out a short scream as he fell backwards towards her. She caught him before he hit the ground and gave him a hug as he burst into tears. Catching Carrie's gaze on her, she sent her friend a reassuring smile before she gave Toby one last squeeze.

"It's alright sweetheart. Jack's gone over to look after Micah and James, so you should go and help him. I'll stay here and make sure everything is alright with your mother and sister. Okay?"

He nodded tearfully and wiped his nose before walking carefully around the car and after checking both ways, bolted across to the larger vehicle and disappeared inside. Then she crouched down and peered in at Carrie.

"Having fun?" she asked cheerfully, laughing softly when Carrie swore at her. "Ah, like that I see. Well, I can certainly help you out with that. Do you mind if I take your underwear off so I can see what is happening?"

"I'll tell you what's frigging happening. I had Toby with my first husband breathing down my neck and making my life a living damn hell. Now I'm having this baby and my idiotic husband isn't even present! I mean…"

Emily nodded at appropriate moments and made soft, soothing noises as she assessed the situation and realised that they didn't really have that long to wait. Tuning Carrie's words out, she remembered the instructions that had been given to them months ago when she was having her babies at home due to the mix-up with the ambulances. Certain she was as ready as she was ever going to be, she interrupted Carrie's tirade about the stupidity of men in general and her beloved husband in particular.

"Carrie," she snapped, stopping the younger woman mid-word. "Shut up and push. Go!"

New Section

"Dad!"

Mirkal turned towards his son's shout and caught the boy as he barrelled in to him. The knowledge that he'd been crying registered briefly, but more worrying was that he couldn't see his wife waiting for him in the hall. He could see Emily, dressed in scrubs and with a baby feeding while Jack held the other one, but he couldn't see Carrie anywhere.

Aaron was right behind him as they walked down the hall, Toby now wrapped around him with his face buried in his shoulder.

"Where's Carrie?" he demanded, wincing slightly at the unexpected harshness of his tone. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. Only I got a garbled message that she was having the baby…"

"That boat has been and gone, my friend," Emily said cheerfully and pointed to the opening across the hall. "Go on in and meet your daughter."

He blinked in shock. "But I thought…can I take Toby in with me?"

Emily's smile gentled. "If you can get him to go in with you. When I arrived, Carrie was screaming in pain and cursing like a sailor, as only a woman giving birth to new life can do. He was determined to help her despite his worry that he'd somehow done something wrong, but the second he saw me, he burst into tears and has refused to go near her for fear he'll get yelled at again. I don't blame him, because she was pretty bad, but Carrie's distressed because she has enough recollection to know what she said to Toby and she can't even apologise to him because he won't go near her."

Mirkal nodded slowly as he finally understood why Toby was so tense in his arms. "So maybe we need to just take a seat out here and wait a little bit," he stated calmly as he took a couple of easy steps towards Carrie's partially open door. Aaron quickly eased it the rest of the way open, shooting Carrie a mouthed 'Congratulations' before stepping out of the way. "Then, when you're feeling better about it, we can go in together," Mirkal finished as he rubbed Toby's back in comfort and stepped through the door, Aaron pulling it silently closed behind him. "How does that sound."

Toby mumbled something unintelligible as Mirkal sought to contain his joy as he took in his beautiful ladies, one of whom slept soundly in her mother's arms and the other who watched him anxiously as he eased down to sit on the side of the bed. He kept one arm securely around Toby while the other hand reached out to gently caress first Carrie's creamy soft cheek, then his daughter's beautiful little face.

"You tricked me," Toby said softly as he stiffened again.

Mirkal looked down to see the boy's accusing green eyes looking up at him. "Yes I did, but you needed to see for yourself that your mother isn't mad at you, and she needed the chance to explain to you what happened out there and to tell you she is sorry."

Toby continued to study him suspiciously for a moment before he squirmed round to face his mother, who shot him a small smile.

"Toby, I am so incredibly sorry for what I said to you out there in the car beside the road. Do you remember when I told you about how much having a baby can hurt, despite the fact that it is all worth it because I had you in the end to hold and to love?" She waited until Toby nodded before continuing. "That is exactly what happened with your little sister. Some women just feel their pain very intensely, and I am one of them. And I express that pain in some not-so-nice ways. I can't take back what I said, but I can assure you that I wasn't even slightly mad at you. In fact, I was very proud of you because you didn't run away from me when I needed the help, even though I was saying horrible things to you."

Toby nodded. "You always tell me off when I swear. But when I tried telling you off, you just screamed at me. You scared me," he finished in a whisper as he hunched in on himself.

Carrie nodded sadly. "I know I did Toby, and again I'm so very sorry for that. All I can promise is that you were never in trouble before and you are not in trouble now. If you repeat anything I said out there in the car, you will be very sorry you did, but I wasn't mad at you then and I'm not mad at you now. Does that make sense?"

Toby nodded slowly and shifted closer. "Is that my little sister?"

Carrie kept her sigh of relief to herself as she nodded. "If you stay where you are, I'm just about to hand her over to Mirkal to hold, so you can be really close to her."

Toby thought about it as Carrie handed her daughter over to the man who hadn't been able to take his eyes off of her. She almost laughed to realise he was holding his breath as she settled against him, but then Toby shifted closer to her, angling for a hug and she was more than happy to oblige him as she remembered the hurt look in his eyes the last few times he'd glanced at her.

So she ended up cuddling her son while her husband bonded with his daughter. She was still holding Toby minutes later when he tipped his head back to look at her.

"What are we calling her? I can't just call her sister."

Carrie dropped a kiss on his temple and shifted his weight slightly. "Your father and I discussed this. We wanted a name that seemed American, and yet was also used in India. So we have decided to name her Alisha Noelle Renhwah."

"So we'll all have the same last name?"

Carrie smothered a smile in her son's hair as Mirkal nodded. "Is that alright with you?"

Toby nodded vigorously before frowning. "I know everyone says that I shouldn't hate people, but I think I hate Gabriel and his family."

Mirkal tipped his head to the side. "You'd be right in that it isn't nice to hate people. Why is it that you hate them Toby?"

"They suddenly didn't like us 'cause you come from India and your skin is different to ours and you're my father."

Mirkal smiled sadly. "I'm sorry that the colour of my skin made your new friend not like you anymore. Do you want to know something important?"

Toby's sadness disappeared as he nodded, his eyes growing wide at the thought of being let in on something big.

"The fact that they chose not to like you because you don't have a problem with the colour of my skin just means that they are missing out on something hugely amazing. Because I love you and your mum and your little sister like crazy."

"Crazier than them not liking you even though they never met you?"

"Crazier even than that. So you should pity them for what they are missing out on, and still try to be friends with Gabriel. You may never be able to change his mind because that is how his parents are bringing him up. But just maybe if you are still his friend even after what he did, maybe someday he'll change. And that can only make him a better person. Do you understand?"

Toby nodded his understanding and held out his arms. Mirkal thought he wanted to hold his little sister until he shook his head with his eyes fixed firmly on his father's face. So Carrie took Alisha back and Mirkal wrapped Toby up in a fierce hug.

And just like the emotion that had swamped him when he held his little girl in his arms for the first time, hearing his son say, "I love you Daddy, and I don't care what colour your skin is," filled him with such love and pride in equal measure as he returned the sentiment and shared it out across his whole family, that he was left with such a sense of completeness and of utter contentment for the first time in his life.

End

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