thanks so much for the reviews, favorites, and follow! :) and thanks to those who followed/favorited me! really glad everyone liked the halloween story. just to answer some questions i've gotten about "where we end up," first, i am SO sorry, i know it's been forever. i'm just so stuck! :/ but i'm working on it and trying to update asap, thanks so much for being patient!

summary: Steve's had his heart ripped out as Alexia sent him the papers for the second time. With her not speaking to him, he needs to turn to someone he know will listen. (idea for a second part of him getting the papers from from Illeanna, thanks!)

Nothing To Fix, Part 2

Christmas 2009

Steve didn't know what to do, what to think. He had just been hung up on by his wife, the woman he had been in love with since he was sixteen years old. Now she was demanding that he signed divorce papers, that they end what mattered most to him. There was no talking with her about it, no trying to reason. She had her mind set on getting those papers signed and he knew how she got when she had her mind set on something. That was one of the reasons he loved her.

He couldn't sit, couldn't keep this in. But who was he supposed to talk to? Alexia was the person he talked to when things went wrong. Now, their relationship was what was wrong, though he never saw it that way. Crossing the room to grab the phone he had thrown in frustration, he picked it up and dialed home to Hawaii, but to someone else.

"Hello?" John answered, not sure who was calling him this late.

"Dad?" Steve said. He hadn't wanted his voice to sound so defeated, but that was how he felt.

"Hey," John said with a slight smile, settling on the couch to talk to his son. "Merry Christmas Steve."

"Yeah," Steve sighed, not really even responding.

"Is...everything all right?" John asked curiously.

They didn't really talk much, not about stuff like this. The biggest problem Steve came to him with in the last few years was worrying about impending fatherhood when Alexia was pregnant. Before that, it was when his mom had died and they hardly talked about that. They got along and, of course, John was there for Steve; but Steve never took advantage of that.

"Do you know what Lex is doing?" Steve finally asked.

John sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead. At this point, not hearing anything from his son, he was pretty sure Steve was in denial about the papers for the past month. It took sending them a second time for things to really cement. John didn't want to see Steve and Alexia get divorced, but he certainly saw her side of things. After all, he saw her everyday when Steve didn't. It wasn't what Steve wanted to hear, but it might be what he needed to hear. Maybe coming from someone else would really let it sink in; or it would just blow up in John's face.

"Yeah," John nodded. "I know." Steve waited for more, but John didn't add anything else.

"And...?" Steve said, laughing a bit cynically.

"And what?" John asked, being sympathetic.

"And tell me she's crazy!" Steve snapped. "Tell me she doesn't know what she's talking about."

"Steve-"

"She told me there wasn't anything left to fix dad," Steve continued his rant. He could never yell at Alexia like this, he wouldn't let himself. Maybe it was what he needed though as he was pretty much shouting at his father now.

"What the hell does that even mean?" Steve demanded as he went on. "Do you even know what she's thinking?"

"I do," John admitted; Steve was a little surprised.

"You've talked about this with her?" Steve asked.

"Steve-"

"Before or after Thanksgiving?" Steve interrupted, needing to know. Did John know he was going to get the papers sprung on him like that? Or did she tell him after she sent them?

"Before," John answered, rubbing his forehead as he knew what was coming.

"What?" Steve started to get angrier. "You...you knew she was going to file the papers?"

"I knew that there were problems," John clarified. The strain Steve's job put on their marriage wasn't a secret. With her mom not around and her brother in California, Alexia didn't have much family to talk with about all this.

"Since when?" Steve snapped. How long were these supposed problems going on, so badly that they had to get divorced? Things were hard, but they were never that bad.

"When was Julia born?" John asked Steve, who was taken aback as he was confused.

"She's been thinking of this since-"

"No, no," John shook his head quickly. "I just want you to tell me when she was born." Steve still didn't understand.

"What does that have to do with-"

"Just answer the question," John said and Steve shook his head, not seeing the point.

"January 11th," Steve said. "I know my daughter's birthday. And, Lucy is March 4th before you ask." Alexia was October 2nd, Steve thought to himself. Their anniversary was December 29th, he knew all those important dates.

"What time?" John asked with raised eye brows. Steve opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Shit.

"I don't know," Steve admitted. "But how is that-"

"She was born at 4:15 in the afternoon," John told him. "Lucy was born at 9:32 at night."

"How..."

"I was there," John stopped him. "So Lex didn't have to go through labor alone."

"Don't," Steve argued. Alexia would do this all the time. "She knows I would have been there if I could have."

"Did you know that Julia had stitches three months ago?" John asked.

"What?" Steve asked angrily. How could Alexia not even tell him about that?

"Yep," John nodded. "Took her to the emergency room after she fell roller skating, had to wait three hours to see someone." John shook his head at the memory. "Which is ridiculous, because her mother's a doctor there, but-"

"How did I not know about this?" Steve demanded.

"You were away from base for three weeks," John told him. "There was no contact from you. By the time you got back, she'd had her stitches out for a week and it didn't seem important."

"Didn't seem..." Steve started to echo but trailed off and shook his head. "Why are you telling me this stuff? I'm not a bad father."

"I know," John assured him; he paused. "When you're here."

"What's that mean?" Steve asked. Before, he was just mad at Alexia but now he felt like his dad was taking her side. How could he do that? He thought at least his dad would understand, having arguments with Doris while he was a cop. Steve thought that, sometimes, your job could just take a toll, but everything would be fine. Now he was seeing how wrong that was.

"It means that those little girls adore you," John promised him. "They think that you're the greatest." Steve waited as his dad paused for a moment. "And, then you leave. And, every day, it's the same question-"

"When's dad coming back," Steve cut him off, his tone annoyed. "Yeah, I know Lex. They ask me too."

"There's other questions," John told him, feeling a bit defensive for his daughter in law and granddaughters. Steve had no idea what it was like for them when he wasn't around and now it was time he did. "Do you know what Julia asked me, back when school started?"

"Dad-"

"Why does my mom keep crying every night?" John informed him.

"I'm not a bad father," Steve repeated, his voice softer than before. "I'm not a bad husband."

"You're not," John agreed. "When you're here." He sighed. "And, don't get me wrong, your wife is proud of you. Your girls are proud of you. But, a SEAL isn't what they need right now. They need someone that's here with them. That's what your wife wants, that's why she's doing this."

"This is what I do," Steve said back. "I can't just change that."

"And I understand that," John promised him. That was the benefit of talking to John, he knew what it was like to serve and he also got caught up on cases as a cop. "I know what it's like when you get hooked on a case." He sighed. "Sometimes it doesn't get to this, but she's making you choose." Steve nodded.

"Well, it's her and the girls. No question," Steve told his dad.

"I know," John nodded. "Because you're a good father and a good husband."

"I just need to be there," Steve echoed what he father kept trying to tell him before.

"Just finish what you're working on and get home," John told him. "And don't you dare sign." Steve laughed a little.

"I won't," Steve agreed. "Thanks dad."

"Of course son," John promised them. Neither of them knew how long it would take for Steve to finish his case and get home. They also didn't know that this was the last time they'd get to talk on the phone.

thanks for reading! really hope you liked it, more soon! since i made this update about the papers, the next one i'm using is an idea i got about their reconciliation. let me know any other ideas! :)