A/N - srp2017 asked for a glimpse into the future of this family so I wrote this scene. I hope you enjoy. xoxo - tmtcltb

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Four Years Later

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"Here it is!" Christine held the package up as she bounced into the kitchen.

Mike looked up as he scraped the bottom of the pot, wondering if he could disguise the fact that the macaroni and cheese was burned by dying it green and claiming that it was Dr. Seuss's birthday. "The package from Japan?"

"Yup." Christine leaned over to give him a kiss, only to grimace as she noticed the contents of the plan. "Burning noodles takes a special kind of talent. Just dump it. I'll make rice and beans instead."

Deciding that the meal really wasn't salvageable, Mike did as he was told. Watching as Christine carefully cut open the packages that Lloyd Milowsky had sent from Japan. Although the man developed a treatment for the green mist within months of arriving in Tokyo, using a combination of dialysis and plasma transfusions, he had remained, looking for a more permanent cure. One that would not require the patients to depend on access to doctors and medical equipment. Over the past few years, he and Christine had become regular correspondents, with Christine providing information and updates from the United States and Lloyd providing answering Christine's exhaustive questions about everything Japanese.

Since her decision to participate in Kaito's life, Christine had thrown herself into the role. Her first step was instituting language lessons with Sasha, the result of which was that Kaito learned English and Japanese simultaneously and was fluent enough to have taught his best friend, Frankie Green. After the time when the boys managed to plan and execute a mission to climb out a second story window and make their way to the local ice cream shop without Debbie having a clue what they were up to, the Greens decided to join the weekly lessons. Surprisingly, Danny picked Japanese up almost as quickly as the kids and Whitney was fluent enough to have secured a summer job translating recordings for a humanitarian group working to preserve as many stories of the Red Flu as possible. Mike seemed to be the only one incapable of grasping the basics, Sasha actually wincing at his pronunciation.

Step two in Christine's grand plan had been to find other Japanese families for Kaito to interact with. Unfortunately, she quickly discovered the Japanese-American population of St. Louis was approximately one - Carl Nishioka. Who, as a fourth generation American had little to say when Christine asked him about Japanese heritage, his family lore focusing more on a record of Naval service reaching back to World War II. After mulling over the issue, Christine went in a different direction, asking Lloyd if he would be able to locate any photographs of Takehaya and Kyoko or their extended family that she could show to Kaito. A request, apparently, that Milowsky took very seriously from the size of the package that Christine was currently opening. Pulling out pictures, books, and various household items that presumably held some familial or cultural significance, Christine spread the items over the table. Wiping off his hands, Mike leaned down to pick up the photograph sitting on top of the stack.

One of Takehaya - Kaito - in his uniform.

This was a different man than the one who Mike remembered. Standing tall, face clean shaven, uniform stiff and unwrinkled, this man looked every inch of the Defense Force Captain he had once been. Mike flipped the picture over to see the name written on the back.

Kaito Ito.

Ito. It was only after Christine asked that Mike realized he never knew Takehaya's last name. The need for a birth certificate for Kaito not having occurred to either Rios or Mike until much later. Instead, Kaito received his birth certificate upon reaching St. Louis, with Mike listed as his only parent and Slattery as his last name. Initially Christine had fussed over the fact that Kaito's entrance into the United States was done improperly and that he might not actually be a citizen since neither of his biological parents were United States citizens, until Whitney very convincingly argued that being born on the Nathan James was the equivalent to being born on US soil, giving Kaito automatic citizenship no matter who his parents were.

Despite the passage of years, Mike felt a resurgence of old anger as he stared at the photograph. In many ways, Takehaya betrayed everything that he believed in, betrayed everything that he swore to uphold, betrayed his very country. And yet, without Takehaya's desperate actions, Kaito would not be here. And while Takehaya's experiments were undoubtedly unethical, they had also given Dr. Milowsky a significant headstart when looking at treatment options to counteract the green mist. In some ways, Takehaya's betrayal had done more to save his countrymen than his years of dedicated service to the Defense Force.

"Boys!" Christine called. "Come look at what arrived!"

Footsteps thundered as four-year-old Kaito and three-year-old Logan ran down the stairs. As they rushed into the kitchen, Mike took a moment to observe his sons. Two boys who could not be more different. Kaito was smart as a whip, having taught himself to read several months ago and often catching both Mike and Christine by surprise with detailed questions about how things worked. Logan, on the other hand, was far more laid back, his personality similar to Shaylyn. Although eighteen months younger, Logan had inherited his father's height and was taller than Kaito, leading most people to assume that they were the same age. And, despite a rough beginning when Kaito attempted to push his newborn brother off of Christine's lap, the two were now inseparable.

For months before Logan's birth, Mike and Christine struggled with the name for a boy. Naming Lucas had been easy, his first name the one that they had selected before Whitney was born and his middle name Michael, of course. The same naming tradition that the Slattery family had used for generations. Even naming Kaito hadn't provoked much thought by Mike, Kaito Michael for both of his fathers. But faced with naming another son, Christine and Mike found themselves at odds, both wanting to somehow honor the child they lost without placing the weight of that loss on another child. It was an evening at the Greens that provided the answer. Peter, Kara's father-in-law, mentioned the Jewish tradition of using only the first letter of the deceased's name.

The next morning Christine suggested Logan Michael, and that had been that.

"I want presents!" Logan demanded, seeing the pile of items on the kitchen table.

"It's not presents. It's something even better." Christine knelt, drawing the boys close to her. "This is a picture of Kaito's birth father."

Kaito took the picture curiously, and then his face drew into a frown. "Why does he look funny, Daddy?"

Mike exchanged looks with Christine. Although Christine made a point of talking to Kaito about his birth, neither one of them knew how much the child understood. Did he not know that Takehaya was Japanese? Mike pulled out a chair, leaning over so he could look at the picture as well. "What do you mean, Kaito?"

"The uniform is funny," Kaito said, tone impatient, his exasperation with his father clear. Suddenly the child blinked, his wide black eyes going to Mike. "Was my other daddy in the Air Force? Uncle Tom says the Air Force sucks."

Mike couldn't help the snort that escaped, although he was going to have to tell Tom to watch what he said around the kids. Ashley Chandler had engaged in her own form of rebellion by eschewing the Navy for the Air Force, much to Tom's chagrin and everyone else's amusement. "No, Kaito. Your birth father was part of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. That's why the uniform looks different. He was in a different Navy."

"Oh." Kaito frowned, then turned to Christine. "Are there any toys?"

"No, sweetheart." Christine leaned down to give both boys a kiss. "Just pictures and some things that your birth parents owned before they died."

Logan brightened. "Like candy?"

"Special things for Kaito's box," Mike explained, much to their disappointment. After having retrieved the three older kids' treasure boxes from Norfolk, Christine had created new ones for the younger two boys. Logan's included things like the outfit that he wore home from the hospital and his security blanket. Kaito's box also had his blanket, and the scroll that Takehaya gave to Mike on the last day. A scroll that Mike had never looked at, wanting to save that until Kaito was old enough to do it himself. Apparently the box would now also contain photographs and whatever else Milowsky deemed appropriate to send halfway across the world.

The two boys looked at each other, then Kaito announced. "We're hungry, Mommy."

"Run along, dinner will be done soon." Christine stood as the boys dashed out the door, her shoulders stiff.

Surveying the pile that covered the table, Mike noticed that there were some screened prints and formal clothing in the box. Including, Mike could now see, Takehaya's uniform. He realized how much time and effort Milowsky had put into gathering these items. He moved towards Christine, wishing, not for the first time, that he was better at this touchy-feely stuff. "Kaito will understand when he's older."

"I know. I just..." She turned, brushing at tears as she pulled out the bag of rice and can of beans. "I don't want any regrets, Mike."

Like with Lucas.

Regret over all the times that they said no to playing catch or reading one last bedtime story. Regret for the days when they dragged Lucas along to recitals or soccer tournaments for the girls. Regret for the fights and tears over homework at the kitchen table. And most of all, regret over the decision to send Lucas to camp with a family friend after the Nathan James left unexpectedly early and Mike could no longer go. Because no matter how many times Mike or Tom or Sasha or Christine's therapist told her that Lucas's death was not her fault, Christine didn't believe them. Somehow thinking that she should have been able to save him. It was a feeling that Mike shared to a certain extent, his guilt over being in the Arctic rather than with Lucas when he got sick almost unbearable. But it killed him that Christine felt that way, especially after what she went through to protect their daughters from first the virus and then Allison Shaw.

"What's all this?" Mike's contemplation was interrupted by Shaylyn's voice. At sixteen, the child had yet to demonstrate any of the wildness of her older sister, something that Mike was still waiting for. Shaylyn picked up a photograph. "Is this Kaito's birth mother?"

Mike looked over her shoulder. "Yes, that's Kyoko."

Shaylyn studied the picture. "Kaito looks a little bit like her. He has her eyes."

"Yes, he does." Christine was the one to speak this time, leaning over to look at the picture, before returning to the stove.

"Can I go see Sam?" Shaylyn asked, setting down the picture. Mike scowled, the knowledge that his baby girl was dating Sam Chandler the source of considerable irritation to both Tom and Mike.

Before Mike could object, Christine waved her off. "Of course. Be back by nine."

He waited until the front door closed, moving the items from the table to the relative safety of the top of the refrigerator until he and Christine had time to go through everything. "You shouldn't encourage her."

"And you shouldn't make such a big deal about it," Christine retorted, pouring the rice into a pan. "Sam's a good kid, Mike. It could be a lot worse."

Having lived through Whitney's teenage years, Mike knew that was true. Turning to Christine, a smartass comment on the tip of his tongue, he stopped at the frown of concentration on her face. "What are you thinking about?"

She paused, then looked up. "Do you ever wonder why Takehaya picked you to raise Kaito?"

"He told me why," Mike replied, confused. Hadn't he ever told Christine about his conversation with Takehaya?

"He did?"

Apparently not. Mike looked down at the photographs he was holding. Ones that he didn't recognize. Perhaps family members? "Takehaya said that there was nobody better to raise a son who had lost his father than a father who lost his son. At the time, I didn't really appreciate what he meant. But now..."

"He picked you because you knew what it was like to lose a child," Christine said softly, eyes filling with tears. "He knew that you would do everything in your power to keep his son safe and happy."

Mike nodded, feeling his throat tighten as he imagined how different his life could be right now. "I got my second chance with you and the girls and Kaito and Logan. And I plan to enjoy every second."