Chapter 7

Sonny nodded. "You do. He looked just like me at that age…." He smiled. "…windows shades and everything." He said, indicating his eyes. The flaps of skin at the corners.

"When Cassidy was born," Nick recalled. "They put a name band on her leg. They didn't do that when you and Sonny were born. The only way to identify a baby was by the name on the bassinet he was in. And it was only labeled with the parent's last name. It was…they didn't even label you two as twins. They just…they would put you in the same bassinet when they brought you to the rooms. But they always took you back first, Sonny, before they took Nash."

Sonny looked at Nick. "They put me in the wrong bassinet?" He shook his head. "Is that even possible?"

"Twins are rare. And you two were the only ones in the hospital, at that time. Everybody came to see you. And, any of those people could have…." Nick said.

Nash theorized out loud. "The nurses were used to seeing me in there by myself. You were in the ICU…." He told Sonny. "They saw an empty bassinet and put you in."

"So, I became the Crockett's baby." Sonny said. "But then, what happened to the other baby? And why did…? There had to have been an empty bed in the ICU."

"Not if some nurse made a mistake and switched you two." Nash stated.

Sonny shook his head. "There still would have been two babies. Me and whoever that other kid was."

"Not if that kid suddenly died." Nash said.

"So, the nurse thought that was me. Okay, but I was still sick. How did I manage outside the ICU?" Sonny asked.

"The nurse realized what she'd done and covered her ass." Nash replied.

Sonny nodded. "She would have certainly lost her job. And…." He looked at them, wide-eyed. "My mom, Rita Crockett, was a nurse. She's retired now. She and my dad, Joe, lived in California for a little while before moving to Florida."

"You mean they left California to avoid…." Nash began cautiously. He didn't want to speak ill of Sonny's parents.

Sonny sighed, letting the reality slowly sink in. "They started over in Florida. Who is going to question a young couple with a newborn?" He looked at his brother. And shook his head. "That's…."

"…completely plausible." Nash stated.

"Probable…" Sonny said. "Rita Crockett was a pediatric nurse. Joe was transferred to Miami shortly after I was born, at his request. They talked about our trip to Florida. They ended up driving because they didn't know if they could safely take a newborn on a plane." Sonny informed them. "And since she was a pediatric nurse, she would have known how to take care of a sick baby."

Cassidy was astounded at what she was hearing. How does a hospital misplace a baby? Those things were things that people talked about on those tabloid shows. That didn't happen in real life. And, certainly, not to anybody she knew. She shook her head as she tried to process the information she had heard.

"They stole you, Sonny! They stole you!" Cassidy said.

"She's right!" Nick replied, looking at his son.

Nash nodded.

Sonny shook his head. "That's…!" He wasn't sure how to feel. He had been lied to his entire life. He had never been adopted, he had been taken.

Sonny got up off the couch. He went over to the window, noticing the amazing view for the first time. He had not really paid attention when he first got there. Now, he marveled at the beauty.

Nash came up beside Sonny at his kitchen counter. He didn't say anything for a few minutes.

Sonny shook his head. "My entire childhood was a lie. I can't…." He said, staring out at the bay. He sighed. "And the legality of it all. There is a statute of limitations on that stuff. But, I have no idea what it is."

"Me, either." Nash admitted. "Add in the felony, and who knows."

Sonny sighed. "Yeah, forgot about the felony part. That just complicates things even more."

"What do you want to do, Sonny?" Nash asked, looking at his brother.

Sonny didn't say anything for a moment or two. "Dad…Joe's got Dementia, brought on by the alcoholism. Not the doctor's diagnosis, mine. Mom…Rita fell and broke her hip a few years ago. She never quite recovered. And now she's has high blood pressure and is a diabetic." He paused. "I don't' know if they would survive a trial, if it came to that. Much less do actual time." He paused. "I can't do that to them. Things…things were good till I turned 10, then Dad lost his job. He went on disability, became depressed and then started drinking."

Nash didn't say anything, thinking back to what Gina had told him. He just followed Sonny back to the couch and they both sat back down.

Nick and Cassidy expressed their sympathy for that he had gone through.

"But, I just…what did they tell people about me? I couldn't have just suddenly appeared and people not ask questions." Sonny put his head in his hands. "What did they tell their brothers and sisters? What did they tell their parents? What did they tell Jake?"

Nash sighed. "Chances are they didn't say anything to anybody, Sonny."

Sonny just looked at his brother.

"I'm guessing none of the family lived, here, in California. It was definitely far enough away that relatives couldn't just pop in on them. And they…that way nobody would see that Rita had not been pregnant." Nash explained. "And, they could always tell people that Joe was transferred by his company. No one would question that. It happens all the time."

Sonny nodded. "It fits." He sighed. "Plus, I wasn't to find out the truth. Since they decided not to tell me." He paused, realizing something. "How did Gina

find you anyway?"

Nash laughed. "It was a complete accident. She said her rental car got stolen. She was looking for a police station. The SIU was the closest."

Sonny looked at Nash, shook his head and chuckled. "Unbelievable."

"She saw me, started calling out your name. She was wondering why I/you was ignoring her."

"This had been one hell of a day, Nash Bridges." Sonny said, scrubbing his hand over his face.

"For me, too, Sonny Crockett."

"It's a lot to take in." Sonny admitted. "I need to talk to my friends. My…other family." He sighed. "I need to have a long, uncomfortable talk with my….Joe and Rita."

Sonny looked at Nick. "I can understand you being angry at my…the Crocketts. But, they…they did the best that they could. The alcoholism and all it precipitated, nobody could have predicted any of that would happen. I wished it hadn't happened, of course. But, they didn't take me with any of that in mind."

Nick nodded. He understood. "I've mourned you, for years, Sonny. And I understand what you're saying. But, if you've never lost a child…. I've thought about you, all the time. Every year on your birthday, I wondered what you would have been doing? Through the years, I've wondered, would you have gone to college? Would you have married? Would you have had children?" He paused, wiped away tears. "I mourned the young life never lived. I mourned all those moments, those milestones that I missed out on."

Sonny stood and hugged Nick as tears came to his eyes. "I'm sorry."

Nick stepped back and looked at his son. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Son. You're here! I have my boy back!"

Sonny wiped his eyes and smiled. "I did go to college, University of Florida on an athletic scholarship, busted my knee in a football game. I applied for the police department after my 4 years in the army. I went into the army right out of high school. A way to get away from the all drama at home. Then I applied for college. Thanks to the G.I. Bill, I got a full ride. Then I got a job with the Dade County, Florida police department. I worked my way up to the Vice squad. Then after 10 years in vice, I left, and my partner and I now run a private detective agency out of Tallahassee. I have been married, twice. I have a 16-year-old son, Billy, with my first wife, Caroline. My second wife, Caitlan…she passed away about 7 years ago."

Nick shook his head. "I'm sorry about Caitlan."

"What…what happened…if you don't mind…?" Nash inquired. He

"Caitlan was…she was under my protection." Sonny started. "She was singing in a club and saw a drug deal go down. She could identify all the players." He shook his head. "She was under for a few months, safe house and everything. I was with her the whole time. We fell in love." He paused. "She had a contract for a multiple country tour. She was playing concerts all over the world. It was the end of her U.S. tour and I met her in New York City. The concert was over and she stepped off stage. She…she was shot in the back." He paused. "She died in my arms."

Nobody knew what to say for a few moments.

"Sonny, I'm sorry. That..." Cassidy said, taking his hand and squeezed it.

"Thank you." Sonny said. "She was…she was a wonderful woman. We weren't married long. But, we were very happy together."

Nick's heart broke for his son. He had lost his wife at a young ago, too. He thought that that made things so hard. He would have loved to grow old with Virginia.

"I have a grandson?" He was thrilled to hear the news.

Sonny pulled out the picture of Billy he had shown Nash earlier.

TBC