Pulling up to the building, I could see Ted standing outside, waiting for us. I had called him twenty minutes earlier and told him we were back in Pittsburgh and to meet us at the loft. I wanted his help to get everything upstairs while Cynthia looked after Emma, who after her fourth feeding and diaper change since we left New York, was back to sleep once again. When Cynthia stopped the car in front of the building, Ted walked over and opened the door for me.

"Deb told everyone about Emma." He said, peering into the backseat, "Lindsay was going on about her and Mel raising the kid with Gus and Jenny while Michael was fuming that Justin wasn't taking care of her."

"She's my daughter and at the moment Justin is missing."

Ted nodded as he watched me pull Emma and the car seat from the backseat of Cynthia's car.

"That's what Deb said too. Michael said and I quote, 'The little shit just didn't want to be saddled with a kid so he's playing it off that Brian is the father and pawning her over.'"

I could help laughing, "First off, we all know Justin wouldn't lie about something like this and second, if he didn't want to be saddled with a kid, there were a million other choices he could have used instead of pretending the kid was mine. He could have given her up for adoption or had an abortion or even pawned her off to his mother."

"Speaking of his mother." Ted looked up the street.

I followed his line of sight to find Jennifer, Molly and Tucker heading our way.

"Jennifer." I said as they approached, Emma still asleep in the car seat I was holding.

"Brian. How is she?"

"Sleeping at the moment." I reply, "Why don't you, Molly and Cyn take her upstairs. Ted and Tucker, mind helping me with everything?"

"Not a problem, Brian." Tucker smiled

Ted only nodded. I handed the car seat and my daughter over to her grandmother and then handed my keys over to Cynthia. We watched the women head into the building before getting to work with carrying everything upstairs. It took us each four trips to get everything upstairs and into the loft. It would have taken longer and more trips but thankfully the elevator was working this week. Once we had finished, I ordered us all lunch and we all sat around the living room. Jennifer was holding a now wide awake Emma.

"Any word on Justin?" Tucker asked

I shook my head, "Not yet but I have a guy looking into it. While visiting with his roommate I sensed that she knew something more then what she was letting on so I'm having her followed."

"I just hope he's alright." Jennifer sniffed, looking down at her granddaughter.

"By the looks of things, he did leave on his own accord." Cynthia added, "I'm sure he'll turn up in a few days."

"There is no way Justin would have just left New York and Emma alone. He would have stuck around to make sure that I had her before leaving, which means he had to have been watching me in New York or his roommate was."

"So, you think she is helping him?" Tucker asked

I nod, "She seemed a little too happy to be helping us pack all of the baby stuff and Justin's room."

We all talk for a little longer before the food gets here. Then while we are all eating, we just talk about other things like work and school for Molly. Emma is fed and changed by Jennifer and then held by everyone else before they all get up to leave me alone with my daughter. Ted and Tucker had helped set up a few things like the changing table in the bathroom and the crib in the bedroom.

"If you ever need a babysitter, hit me up." Molly smiled, "I'm so here to look after my niece."

I smirk at the fifteen year old and nod. She squeals like I had just made her wish come true before she skipped, and I literally mean skipped out the loft door after Tucker. Ted and Cynthia had both already gone home. Jennifer turns to me and strokes Emma's cheek as I hold her.

"Same goes for me, Brian. If you need someone to watch her, just call."

"I'll hold you both to it." I laugh.

Jennifer smiles but I can see tears forming in her eyes, "If you hear anything about..."

I cut her off, "You'll be the first person I call."

She nods before kissing my cheek and then Emma's. She then turns and leaves the loft, closing the door behind her. Now it's just me and my daughter. Looking down at her, she is watching me and I can see a little smile forming around the pacifier she is sucking on at the moment. It's starting to get a little late and I know Emma is going to be falling asleep once again so I take her into the bedroom and just lay down on the bed with her. I stick pillows around her so I know she wont roll. Laying on my side, I just watch her as her eyes start drifting closed as I slowly and lightly rub her belly.

Tuesday

I didn't get much sleep last night but I didn't actually think I would. Around seven, I knew I was up for good when the phone started ringing. I tried reaching it before it woke Emma, but no such luck. On the other end of the phone was Jennifer, calling to check on me and Emma. I would have laughed if I wasn't tired or a little pissed off that she had called to check up on us and in the process, woken the baby. Around eleven, there was knocking on the loft door but before I could get to it (I was giving Emma a bath in the sink), the door was rolled open and Michael came rushing in.

"You we're picking up your phone. I called both here and your cell." He huffed as soon as he saw me.

"I unplugged the home phone because the ringing was waking Emma and my cell is on vibrate. I took it out of my pocket so I could give her a bath." I reply, not taking my eyes off my daughter, "What are you doing here Michael? I told Deb that everyone could see her on Sunday."

"I'm not here to see her." He spat, "I'm here to talk to you about why you even have her."

"Because she's my daughter." I reply, rinsing out the baby shampoo from Emma's peach fuzz of blond hair.

"Just because he said so..."

"No, because the DNA test said so." I grit my teeth, "The hospital made me take a DNA test to make sure I was truly her father before I could bring her home."

"She looks nothing like you."

"She looks just like Justin, I know." I smile down at Emma and she giggles as I rub the washcloth over her back.

Once I have her cleaned and rinsed off, I look around for the towel I laid out on the counter behind me. Then Michael hands it to me. I take it and wrap it around Emma before lifting her out of the sick and holding her to my chest.

"Thanks."

Michael just nods, watching me as I take Emma to the couch to get her dressed. Once I've finished, I set her in the swing I set up earlier this morning and set it so she is swinging and the toys above her light up. She sticks her fist into her mouth and giggles as she watches the toys. I stand back up straight and turn back to Michael, who is sitting on one of the bar stools, watching.

"You're really good with her." He almost whispers but I can hear him.

"Yeah. I didn't have much practice with Gus, but I'm all she has right now as parents go."

"So you really have no idea where he is?" He asks as he spins around to watch me as I clean up the mess in the kitchen.

"None. But I have a guy looking into it." I turn to face him again, leaning against the counter with my arms folded across my chest, "I'm hoping to hear back from him sometime this week."

"That's good." Michael stands back up, "Listen. I'm sorry about what I said. If you need anything, just call."

"I will." I follow him to the still open door and watch him leave before closing and locking the door back up.

Turning back to Emma, I see that she is fast asleep once again so I decide to take the time and get some work down that Cynthia had faxed over to be earlier in the morning when I had called her before unplugging the home phone. I sit at my desk and boot up the computer.

Wednesday

I am woken once again by Emma's screaming from her crib. I don't even waste a second getting out of bed and picking her up. I hush her as I check her diaper, which is clean. I decide to head for the kitchen and fix her a bottle, figuring she is probably hungry. That's when I hear the pounding at the door. Carrying Emma with me, I head for the door and slid it open to find Lindsay and Mel standing there. Mel is carrying a sleeping Jenny and Gus is standing next to Lindsay, smiling up at me.

"Daddy!" Gus squealed, trying to release Lindsay's hand from his own.

"Hey Sonnyboy." I smile at my son before turning to Lindsay, "What the fuck, Linds. It's like six in the morning."

"It's a little after nine actually." Mel replies as they all walk around me and into the loft.

"Whatever." I mumble, grabbing a bottle from the fridge to heat up for Emma, "Not that I appreciate the wake up call, because I don't, but what the hell are you doing here?"

"I thought Gus should meet his new sister before everyone else." Lindsay replied, "I would think she would have had you up by now."

"Nope, actually we both decided to sleep in." I reply as Emma starts to drink her now warmed bottle.

"Daddy!" Gus said again, "Sister?"

"Yes, that is your new sister." Lindsay looked down at our son, "Her name is Emma, remember."

Gus nodded, "Hold her?"

"Sure, Sonnyboy." I smile down at my son before taking Emma over to the couch.

Lindsay follows with Gus. She gets Gus sitting on the couch and we tell him he is now allowed to move while holding Emma. Once Emma is done drinking and burped, I place her in his arms. He holds her just right, already having held Jenny a few times before. I then stand right in front of him to watch him. Mel is sitting on a bar stool, Jenny still in her arms and Lindsay is standing behind the couch, looking right at me.

"Brian, have you given any thought about Mel and I taking her?"

"Linds, I already told you. I am not just going to hand over my daughter like that."

"But Brian..."

"No Linds. I've made it perfectly fine taking care of her these last few days."

"What about when you return to work?"

"I'm looking into daycare. Plus I'm the boss and can work from home when needed. And Jennifer and Molly have offered to babysit and I'm sure Deb will too."

Lindsay sighed and nodded, "Okay. Okay. You can count on us too. If you need a babysitter, we'll help. That way, Gus can spend time with her with us as well."

"Thank you." I smile at my best friend and then look at Mel and could have sworn I saw a little smile on her face too.

They stayed for a little longer before leaving to head to the diner for lunch. Gus wanted Emma and I to go with them but I didn't want Emma out of the house just yet. I promised him that sometime next week I would take both of them out to lunch, just the three of us and thankfully both Lindsay and Mel agreed. Gus was happy when they left.

Thursday

As I was giving Emma her daily bath, there was a knock on the door. I knew it was probably someone without a key since everyone with keys, Jennifer is the only one to knock first and since I had already talked to her today about her taking Emma for tomorrow night, I knew it wasn't her. I rinsed out Emma's hair and wrapped her in the towel before making my way to the door. It was Cynthia with some work from Kinnetic for me. She smiled and took Emma to get her changed while I looking over some of the work. She stayed for a little while before leaving. Emma was sleeping again so I decided I was going to get some much needed sleep as well.

Friday

Friday afternoon, I found myself alone at the loft. Jennifer had just came and took Emma with her for the rest of the day and for the night. Surprisingly, I found myself not wanting to be parted from my daughter. It took a good twenty minutes for Jennifer to get Emma out of the loft. As soon as she was gone, I had no idea what I was going to do. Then I remembered that Cynthia had brought over some work from Kinnetic yesterday so I sat down at my desk to work for the rest of the day.

Saturday

I got a good nights sleep last night with Emma gone for the night. It was weird not waking up every couple of hours to feed and change her, but it also felt good to have a night to myself again. It would have been better if Justin was here with me, but I still had no idea where he was. My guy had called and said that the trail had gone cold. He would still keep looking but not to get my hopes up in finding Justin. Around three, Jennifer returned with Emma and that helped me with a distraction. I told Jennifer what my guy had told me about the trial going cold but he wasn't giving up yet. Jennifer was thankful about that.

Sunday

All Sunday I spent with Emma at the park before returning home to give her a bath and feed her before getting my own shower. Then we headed to Deb's for dinner. Everyone was there, including Jennifer, Tucker and Molly. As soon as I walked in the door, I was crowded by Deb and Emmett. Neither of them had seen Emma yet. Ben and Hunter were next. When I finally got Emma into the playpen with Jenny, it was time for dinner. I guess Jennifer had filled everyone in with the news of Justin. But we didn't talk about that, instead we talked about everything else. Work, Babylon, Woody's, the kids. Justin was mentioned a few times but nothing to do with him disappearing like he has. By the time I got Emma home, she was out for the night. I changed, crawled into bed and fell right to sleep myself.

* * * * * * * * * *

He walks through the doors with only one suitcase. Looking around, he sees two others sitting in the uncomfortable chairs, signing away their lives for the next ninety days, just like he is about to. Turning to his left, he sees September walking through the doors right behind him. He smiles at her and headed for the front desk. The lady sitting behind the desk looks up at him and smiles sweetly.

"Justin Taylor?" She asked

He just nods as September steps up to his side. The lady rummages through some papers before handing him a clipboard and pen.

"Fill this out and then Artie will be in to check your suitcase and show you to your room."

"Thanks." Justin replies.

September takes his suitcase and they both go and sit down.

"Are you sure you don't want any of them to know you're in rehab?" September asks as she watches him fill the forms out.

"No." He shakes his head, "I'm putting you down as my emergency contact. In only a really bad emergency is Brian to be contacted because he is my power of attorney."

"I don't like this lying like this, but I promise not to call any of them unless I have too."

"Thanks, September." Justin finishes filling out the form.

He hands it back to the woman at the desk and she checks it over before getting on the phone and calling for Artie to come to the lobby. A few minutes later, a big guy walks through the double doors and over to them.

"Ready to go?" He asks, looking down at Justin.

"Yeah." Justin nods before turning to September and pulling her into a hug, "Thanks. For everything."

"No problem." September hugs him back, "Just get better so you can get home to your partner and daughter."

Justin smiles before pulling away and following Artie back through the double doors. September watches until they are gone. She then turns and leaves the building and heads home to set up the next part of Justin's plan. When she walked in the door, the guy they had called up was already sitting on her couch, drinking a beer.

"I see you've let yourself in." She mumbled, grabbing a water from the fridge before joining him in the living room.

"Shouldn't keep the spare above the door like everyone else." The guy replied.

"Scot, cut the crap. Are you sure you're up for this?" She asks.

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't." Scot replied, sitting up straighter, "So, what exactly are you having me do in Pittsburgh?"

"You need to follow Brian Kinney and his daughter Emma. Get pictures, whatever." September replied, "Justin wants to keep track of them while he's in rehab for his depression and suicidal thoughts. You'll report back to me weekly with the pictures and whatever else so I can take them to Justin."

"What about the rest of his messed up family?"

September nods, "His mother and sister, yes. Along with Brian's son Gus. He doesn't really care about everyone else at this point. He just wants to know about them."

"Got it."

"You'll get paid half now and half after Justin is out of rehab."

Scot nods and stands, "Thanks for the beer. I better head to Pittsburgh now."

"Thanks Scot."

"No problem, little sis." Scot kisses September's cheek before leaving.