A/N: Again, many thanks for the great reviews. All are appreciated. The character of Janette Cole is mine.

Ten

He'd ask her tonight he decided and ignored the fluttering in his stomach. Maybe she would already have Fourth of July plans with her own family? He swallowed. There was no harm in asking all the same. He walked with Alex to the Bullpen and saw the Captain standing by their desks. Bobby frowned at the expression on his face. He looked awkward, uncomfortable and he was looking at him. The only thought that went through Bobby's mind what whatever it was, it wasn't good. A sick feeling began to churn in his stomach. He'd just left Kate and Nicky at his apartment; it couldn't be about them, could it?

"There's someone here to see you Bobby. She says that her name is Janette Cole" Alex looked at him, to see him turn almost ashen pale.

"What does she want?" he demanded in a tightly controlled voice. Alex frowned. Who the hell was Janette Cole?

"She wouldn't say, except that she wants to talk to you and she says it's important. She's in the conference room" Bobby turned his head and looked but the blinds were drawn. He just nodded and rubbed at his eyes. The Captain walked away.

"Who is Janette Cole?" Alex asked him. He dropped his hand and looked at her.

"She's Nicky's mother" he watched her eyes widen.

"And she's showing up now? What for?" Bobby made a low, irritated sound in his throat.

"Whatever it is. It can't be good"

He opened the door and watched her turn and look at him. She had been sitting down but when she saw him, she got to her feet. She clutched an expensive black leather purse tightly in her hands and watched him as he came inside and closed the door behind him. For a moment he stood and they looked at each other. Bobby folded his arms, his legs slightly apart and there was no smile of welcome on his face.

"Bobby…" she greeted. She felt the nerves bubble afresh inside of her. She took a deep breath and continued to watch him. He walked across the room to stand by the small window.

"It's been a long time Bobby…" she began. He turned around and looked at her and she knew that he was taking in her clothes, her accessories with that intense gaze of his. There was nothing there of the teasing, flirtatious man she'd met at the bar that Christmas.

"What do you want?" he interrupted rudely and she blinked. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She had to expect this, she had to expect this hostility from him but it still hurt all the same. She watched his eyes slide from her face. He was uncomfortable, like this was that last place where he wanted to be and for all she knew it was.

"Is that all you have to say to me Bobby?" she exclaimed and he looked at her again.

"After eight years of absolutely nothing? Yeah, it pretty much is" he retorted and Janette just stared at him with hurt brown eyes. He tilted his head to one side.

"Have I hurt your feelings Janette? Or did your conscience finally remind you that you have a child…another child?" he saw the rings that she wore, the diamond solitaire that was a couple of carats at least. She'd married and she'd married well.

"I came to talk to you…to ask you if you would consider letting me see him" he stared at her in utter shock.

"See him? Why? He doesn't know who you are" he retaliated. Anger was bubbling under the surface, warring with the shock at seeing her again after thirteen years.

"He's still my son Bobby, I gave birth to him…I…"

"You dumped him into foster care when he was five years old Janette!" he yelled suddenly and watched her flinch. He straightened up.

"I was a different person then…I just couldn't cope with him anymore"

"And that's when you told his caseworker that, oh he has a father?" he snipped. She glared at him with fiery eyes.

"You wouldn't understand…" she defended and Bobby made a show of widening his eyes.

"Oh wouldn't I?" he began to walk slowly towards her "the sleepless nights, the temper tantrums which, by the way, get worse the older he gets, the rigid routines, the inexplicable phobias, the odd behaviours and mannerisms, the sheer never ending worry and stress that autism brings to the table every single day" by now he was right beside her, his left hand weaving and chopping through the air with every point that he made " I think I do understand, don't you?" he lowered his voice and Janette looked at him.

"He's my son," she reminded him, her voice shaking slightly.

"Which you're just remembering now. I won't let you do this to him Janette. Appear in his life; allow him to form some sort of an attachment to you only for you to waltz out of his life again when it suits you? Or when you realise that he just won't respond to you the way you hoped?" he slowly shook his head.

"What if I want custody?" she retaliated and he regarded her for a moment, refusing to acknowledge the cold fear that suddenly lodged in his gut.

"Where is he when you're here? School is out, who is taking care of him right now?" Bobby clenched his fists. He leaned forwards very slightly

"You gave up your right to be his mother the day you dumped him in foster care. You decide to pursue this through court then I will fight you. I'll fight you every single step of the way," he promised in a lethally soft voice, his mouth inches away from her ear.

Alex looked up as the door to the conference room opened and Bobby emerged. If she had to put a name to the expression on his face then she'd have to choose worried. He looked worried. She got to her feet as he paused in the middle of the bullpen. He glanced at her and just shook his head. She paused, watching as he turned and walked out. A couple of minutes later, Janette emerged. She looked a little on the pale side, definitely shook up. She caught Alex's eye and for a moment they just looked at each other before she also walked away. Alex sighed.

Bobby slammed into the men's room. His heart was tripping in his chest. He made his way to one of the sinks and turned on the faucet and cupped his hands beneath the rushing water. He sluiced his face a couple of times and leaned over the basin and took several deep breaths. He waited for the anger, the fear to subside. By the time he dried his face with a couple of paper towels, he felt marginally calmer.

Alex did a quick circuit of the eleventh floor. He wasn't there. She paused and frowned. Had he just left? Gone back home? She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and stared at it. What if he hadn't? If she called his apartment and just got Kate then she would no doubt freak out.

"Eames?" she jumped out of her skin when she heard his softly spoken voice behind her. She spun around and looked at him. He'd just come out of the men's room. He was as white as a sheet but there was a questioning frown on his face all the same. She sighed with relief.

"There you are!"

"I'm okay" his voice trembled very slightly. Alex reached out a hand and touched his jacket sleeve.

"You don't look it." He looked at her. He didn't feel it either and he swallowed.

"Do you want to talk about it? Is it about Nicky?" He just looked at her and then eventually he nodded.

"After all this time? What does she want?" he shoved his hands into his pockets and hunched his shoulders.

"She wants to see him"

"I hope you told her to go to hell?" She was rewarded with the briefest of smiles. She knew him better than he thought. Then he shrugged.

"Kind of. Then she told me, what if she went for custody?"

"She must be out of her mind, no sane judge in the country would give that woman custody"

"Circumstances have changed Eames, she's married and seemingly has married well" he sighed and slowly shook his head.

"She was just shooting off at the mouth Bobby, she wouldn't dare try take Nicky away from you" she tried to reassure him, patting his upper arm. He looked at her and tried to believe her but empty threat or not, it had unsettled him.

Kate did a last minute check through the backpack before swinging it onto one shoulder. Nicky flitted about the living room in some kind of avant-garde type dance, the music only known to him. She had suggested a trip to the park nearby and he had seemed agreeable to the idea. She looked at him.

"Ready to go Nicky?" he turned his head and glanced at her.

"Ready to go Kate" he replied. Kate held out a hand.

"Let's go" and he came over and took her hand as they left the apartment.

Nicky paused on the sidewalk and looked around.

"Go in car" he announced. It was a beautifully warm sunny morning, perfect for walking. Kate looked at him.

"The park is right this way, we don't need to take the car today Nicky" she explained to him. His brown eyes turned dark and mutinous.

"Car. Want car!" he announced, no demanded, in a loud voice and Kate sighed inwardly.

"Come on Nicky, let's just walk to the park, see what we can see and we can tell your dad all about it when he gets back from work tonight" he glanced at her again and seemed to be thinking about it.

"No car today" Kate shook her head.

"Not today Nicky, it's lovely and sunny, it's too hot to go in the car. Want to walk with me?" To her relief, Nicky nodded his usual boisterous nod.

"Okay!" he replied happily and Kate sighed quietly with relief. Hopefully that was one tantrum averted.

She tried to ignore the curious looks that they both received in the park. She remembered when Michael got the same looks, was a victim of the same speculation. She tried to ignore the irritation that flared up when she saw the expressions on their faces. There was interest, curiosity and then there was ignorance, the way they would stare at him like he was a circus act and worst of all there was pity. Kate remembered the looks of pity Michael had received and she had guessed that they all thanked God that their kids weren't like him. Again she wondered how Bobby did it. Then she looked at Nicky and saw how unaffected, how innocent he looked and that was it. The corruptions of life would pass him by, society's evil and lies would hopefully leave him untainted. She sighed raggedly and stood by the climbing frame as he quickly, easily worked through it, oblivious to the children playing around him but at the same time, scrupulously careful not to get in their way. As Kate watched him, she realised that he knew exactly where each child was and was careful to avoid them. A lot of autistic kids just barged their way through life, through everything, their only goal being self-gratification. It was interesting to see Nicky take the other kids into consideration like this. She made a mental note to mention it to Bobby and she was curious to know whether this was an inbuilt skill or a taught skill.

His phone hadn't rang all day. For the most part he was glad because it meant that his son was happy and settled with his sitter, a part of him had hoped that Kate would call. He could've done with hearing her voice, listening to her calm his fears and doubts. He'd pushed Janette's threat to the back of his mind as he'd worked but now and again it had forced its way brutally through to the forefront to disrupt and worry him anew. Maybe Alex was right, that it was just an empty threat issued in a moment of temper, God knows he hadn't been his most welcoming or rational upon seeing her again. The shock of her reappearance had made him defensive and angry. He'd been angry at her supposition that he would just let her see Nicky again, just like that. But if she did bring legal proceedings then things could and would get ugly very quickly. Janette had a husband now, could probably provide him with everything that he could wish for, could probably pay for his school place several times over without breaking a sweat. Kate had told him he was strong, Alex had told him over and over again that he was a dad to be proud of. Right now he didn't believe either of them.

Nicky was in his pyjamas by the time he got home. Kate was in the process of tidying up the kitchen, looking to all as if she belonged there, here with them. She took a look at him and her eyes softened sympathetically.

"You look worn out. Tough day?" her voice was soft and Bobby sighed quietly, raggedly. She had no idea.

"Yeah. Where's Nicky?" he turned his head and before she could respond, headed towards his bedroom.

Nicky was sprawled on his bed, all arms and legs and watching snatches of the DVD playing. Bobby went over to him and sat down on the bed beside him, loosening his tie and unbuttoning the top button of his shirt at the same time.

"Hey Nicky. Good day?" he glanced at his son who had barely acknowledged his presence.

"Good day Dad." He replied and nodded too. Bobby reached across and quickly ruffled a hand through his curls.

"Glad to hear it" he sighed out.

Kate peered into Nicky's bedroom as ten minutes went by without a sign of Bobby. She found both of them seated on Nicky's bed, watching the DVD with identical frowns on their faces. Only Bobby looked up.

"Coffee?" she offered, holding up the cup she'd been carrying and she watched Bobby slip off the bed and come towards her. He took the cup from her with murmured thanks.

"Nicky is due for bed now" she quietly reminded him and watched him look at his watch and then nod.

Kate turned and saw Bobby standing just in the kitchen and he was watching her.

"I thought you'd be gone by now" he murmured. Kate frowned as she dried her hands on a dishtowel.

"Do you want me to go?" she asked him in a soft voice. He frowned deeply, it was something that she was beginning to recognise when he was conducting some kind of internal battle with himself. Eventually he just shook his head.

"I just thought that you'd be eager to go, it's been a long day for you" It had been but it had been interesting too.

"It's no big deal Bobby, if you want to talk…then I can listen," she offered. He sighed.

"I'm okay," he watched her shrug.

"Alright. Do you want me to make you something?"

"I hired you to take care of Nicky, not me," he reminded her gently. She walked towards him.

"It was only a suggestion. If you're sure…" he stood to one side and nodded. She glanced at him as she walked past. After a brief second, he followed and saw her sitting on the sofa with her shoes in her hands. He watched her slip them on and slowly get to her feet again.

"A…actually I was wondering if I could ask you something" he began. She paused and looked at him

"You can ask me anything"

"Alex Eames's family are holding a Fourth of July barbecue this weekend and…and Nicky and I usually attend. I was wondering whether…you'd like to come too? With Nicky and myself?" she paused.

"You're probably spending the weekend with your family anyway…" he began to turn but she reached out and grabbed his arm and he looked at it and then her.

"My parents will be visiting Michael. I'd love to come with you both" she told him and then she smiled. He seemed to be honestly surprised by her acceptance. She slid her hand down over his.

"It sounds like it could be fun"