Author's Note: This chapter is a little short, but I had to end it where I did. You'll see. And the plot positively curdles …
Disclaimer: I don't own them. The show would be very strange if I did.
Title: Keeping It Together
By: Marion
Chapter: 10Alex woke the next morning spooned with Bobby at her back, his arm around her middle. I could get used to this, she thought. I won't. But I could.
Her cell phone was beeping. She grabbed it and silenced it. Bobby didn't stir. She had a message. She dialed her voicemail.
"Hi Alex, it's Mike. I got you an appointment at Rikers. 11am. Cellblock AA23. Let me know how it goes. Later."
She checked the time. 9:15am. She wiggled out from under Bobby's arm and went to take a quick shower.
When she returned he was still asleep. She left him a note, suggesting he might like to take a warm bubble bath in the over sized tub in the master bathroom and assuring him she'd return shortly, and left.
xxx
She made it to Riker's Island by 10:45am. A guard escorted her to the medium security wing.
"So you're my brother's partner," said Richard Goren. "You're too cute to be a cop."
"Uh huh, but I'm too tough to be anything else," she said, holding out her hand for him to shake. He did so amicably. They sat at the table in the conference room. He wasn't as big as Bobby, but his features were similar. He was wiry with a thinner face. His eyes, though, were almost identical.
"What can I do for you?" he asked.
"I… I came to tell you… I have some bad news."
He sobered. "I'm listening."
"Your mother died yesterday morning."
He frowned. "Did she suffer?" he asked softly.
"She had cancer. But she went peacefully," said Alex.
"Is Bobby taking it okay?" asked Richard, sounding genuinely concerned.
"He's working through it."
"Why didn't he come to tell me?"
"Bobby doesn't know I'm here," she said. "Come to think of it, I don't think Bobby knows you're here."
"I guess maybe not. He did send back my letter unopened."
"Look, I don't know what's between you guys, and I don't want to be in the middle of it. I just thought you should know about your mom," said Alex.
"Thank you."
She got up to go. "Please wait," he said. She stopped. He held a picture out to her. "I haven't spoken to my brother in 18 years. I know it's my fault, just like it's my fault I'm in here. But it ain't her fault."
Alex took the picture and looked at it. It was of a little girl with long brown hair and familiar cocoa brown eyes. Alex sat back down. "Who is she?"
"That's Ivy. She's my little girl. Just turned 11 last month."
"She's beautiful."
"And smart as anything. Reminds me of Bobby. That's why I wrote to him. Aside from wanting to make amends. Her mom died when she was four, so her custody reverted to me. I tried to do right by her, and we did all right, but now I'm in here. She's in foster care. I was hoping Bobby might look in on her from time to time."
"I don't know," said Alex. This was news. She wasn't sure how Bobby would react. She wasn't sure she'd been planning on telling him about her little visit to Rikers.
"I'm not asking for anything for me. I got myself into this mess, gambling and stealing money from my company to feed my habit. But Ivy is a good girl. Bobby doesn't even know about her," Richard said.
"Look, he's going to be pissed at me for even looking for you, much less visiting you," said Alex, already caving in.
"Please, Ms. Eames. Just give him the picture and the letter he sent back to me," said Richard. He passed her a sealed envelope. "And please tell him I'm sorry I wasn't a better big brother. When I get out, I'll try to make it up to him."
Eames sighed. "All right. I'll tell him."
Author's Note: Bet you weren't expecting that…