Author's note: I knew there was something I forgot to do! Just so you know this is AU...the surrogacy never happened. The hurricane never happened. Lucky and Liz aren't engagged but they are living together...And I own nothing other than a few author created characters!
Chapter 2 – "Fear"
Earlier that day
"Uhhhhhhhhhh"
Maxie Jones could hear the groans as soon as she entered into the Brownstone. "Georgie?" she called as she took the stairs two at a time towards their shared room. "You ok?"
"Do I sound ok?"
As she entered the room, Maxie tried not to laugh. Her sister really was a horrible baby about being sick. Currently she was curled into a ball on her bed, Kleenex spread all around the bedside table and overflowing the nearby trashcan. Her nose was bright red and her eyes bore an uncanny bloodshot resemblance to the time they had stayed up all night watching the Lifetime Movie Network. Her sister may tend toward the dramatic but Maxie had to admit, this time she really did look sick.
"No. You look horrid."
"Girls?"
"Up here mom," Maxie called. "Georgie's sick."
Felicia took one look at her youngest daughter and immediately entered into nurturing mother mode. Or "Suffocate the Sick Child with Love" mode as Georgie and Maxie had secretly dubbed it.
"Oh my poor baby. What hurts?"
"Everything."
Figuring the smartest and safest thing would be to move out of the way and let her mother do her thing, Maxie moved towards her side of the room. As she went to place her purse on her bed, some writing on Georgie's calendar caught her eye.
"Um, Georgie? I know this is the last thing on your mind but you do realize you have on here that you're supposed to baby-sit Cameron tonight right?"
Judging by the rate at which her sister's eyes widened, Maxie would guess that it had slipped her sister's mind entirely. "Mom. I have to call and cancel."
Felicia shushed her. "You're not moving from this bed." Maxie figured it wouldn't be too smart right now to point out the phone was right next to the bed. "I'll call. Liz will understand."
Biting her lip, an idea slowly began to form in Maxie's mind. During her last stay in the hospital, she and Liz had talked about her actions regarding Lucky. She knew Liz didn't blame her for the break up but Maxie still felt guilty for the role she knew she had played. "Mom, you don't have to cancel. I'll do it."
"Honey you just got out of the hospital not that long ago. You're supposed to take it easy and not strain yourself."
Maxie laughed. "Mom it's just baby-sitting. How am I going to strain myself doing that?"
In the Hamper
Maxie remembered asking her mother how she would strain herself baby-sitting. 'Famous last words' she thought.
Fervidly hoping the intruders would assume she had run through the open window, she strained her ears for the sounds of footsteps closing in.
"Shit! The window's open!" The sound of discovery was loud enough to hear through both the closed door and the hamper. Well they were definitely in the room now she thought.
"Check…. Can't be….Look….Now!"
Even though she couldn't hear every word, it did not take a brain surgeon to figure out that whoever was out there would be looking for them. She just prayed she had covered them with enough clothes to fool them if they did look inside the hamper.
"No one's in the closet." The door must be open to account for her increased hearing.
"Fuck!"
"What now?"
"Plan B. If Frank doesn't find the baby sitter you can bet she's calling the cops right now. We smash and scram!"
Holding her breath and holding Cameron even tighter than she had before, Maxie heard the sounds of glass breaking, and furniture being overthrown. 'Just don't decide to add strewn clothes to the mix.' She prayed.
"That's enough. We gotta find the boss. She won't be happy."
As she listened to the sound of two footsteps charging out, she continued to hold her breath, just in case they decided to return. It felt like eons, but in reality she knew everything had happened in just the space of a few minutes. She blew out the breath she hadn't been fully aware she had been holding.
Slowly she lifted the lid of the hamper and peered out. The room was in shambles. The crib, table and dresser overturned. The little clown lamp she had turned now sat broken on the ground.
Cautiously rising, she carefully stepped out of the hamper. She glanced at the baby who had in all actuality just saved them both. He didn't seem any worse for the experience of sitting under dirty clothes.
"Ok Cam." She bounced him on her hip as she fished in her pocket for the cell phone she kept there. "Time to get some help here."
Maxie dialed the number from years of experience.
"PCPD."
"Commissioner Scorpio please. This is daughter."
