Title: He Has a Son

Author: SneetchesToo

Rating: General

Pairing: Ethan/Rox

Summary: Rox confides in Emo and Leanne about the news.

Author's Note: Angsty arcs are my thing.

Rox had been thrown off completely by the news that Ethan had shared with her last night.

And while she still hadn't wrapped her head around everything, she knew that she had to support him through this more than anything.

He couldn't do this alone and she didn't want him to try.

She wanted him to know that she was behind him one hundred percent and that she would do whatever it took to help get him through this.

She knew it wouldn't be easy, taking on a kid out of nowhere, especially one that didn't even know who they were.

But Ethan was doing the right thing by getting to know the boy and taking him in and giving him a better life.

She had stayed at the house that night, and when she woke up the next morning Ethan had already left.

He had left her note saying that he got called in and he didn't want to wake her.

She had let out a sigh before pushing herself out of bed and showering, heading to Emo's as soon as she was dressed.

She knew she needed to confide in someone and Emo was the obvious choice.

After pulling into the driveway and letting herself into the house she headed out back in search of the woman, certain that she was probably working in her garden like always.

"Emo!" She called the woman's name just as she saw her head appear above a rose bush.

"Hi sweetheart." Her voice was soft and gentle as she pushed herself into a standing position, extending her arms out. "How are you?"

"I'm okay." Rox whispered, stepping into her open arms with a soft sigh.

"You sound worried." Emo pulled back and brushed some of her hair aside before gesturing toward the chairs to her right. "Let's sit, talk."

She didn't say anything back and instead moved to sit down, offering the older woman a concerning look.

"Roxane…" Emo dragged her name out as she moved to sit down as well. "Talk to me. What's going on?"

"It's Ethan." She said softly, folding her hands in her lap as she tried to control her breathing.

"You two didn't break up again did you?" She knew that Emo supported their relationship fully and it always broke her when they split up for one reason or another.

"No. No we didn't." They almost had though.

She had almost decided that she couldn't do this and that it wasn't worth it.

But then she had seen how desperately he wanted her by his side through all of this and she couldn't say 'no'.

"Then what's going on?" Her question was soft as she looked back at her with curious eyes.

"He has a son." She choked out.

She didn't know why those words were so hard for her to say but every time she played them over in her head it made her heart start to race.

It was even worse saying them out loud.

"A son?" Emo seemed more curious than shocked and Rox just shook her head softly.

It's like she saw this coming.

"His name is Levi and he's six." That was essentially all she knew about the boy and it was killing her.

She didn't know why she wanted to know so much about him all of a sudden but she did.

"Wow." Was all the other woman could say back and Rox let out a soft chuckle.

"Yeah." Wow about covered it though.

"Where has this son been until now?" And then the firing squad started.

"With his mother. She's dying from cancer." At least that's what Rox thought Ethan had said was wrong with the boy's mother. "Apparently she wants him to come live with Ethan now."

"Oh my." She didn't wish ill on the woman at all, but from what she gathered, she wasn't the best mother to begin with, so being with Ethan was probably in the boy's best interest anyway.

"Yeah. Just like that." She still didn't know what to make of all this.

"So the boy's gonna come live with you guys?" She nodded her head as the words left the older woman's lips.

"Yeah. September 15th." It seemed so far away, and yet, so close at the same time.

"Wow, that's, soon." Emo had a soft smile on her face though and Rox knew exactly what she was thinking.

That this would finally make them a family.

Except, it wouldn't make them quite as much a family as a child of their own would have.

"Yeah." She nodded her head once more and let out a soft sigh.

"Are you guys gonna stay in that tiny house?" She asked softly after a few minutes of silence.

"That's the plan." She whispered. "For now anyway."

"Something's on your mind honey." Emo reached out and patted her arm as she offered her a soft look. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She didn't want to talk to Emo about this, not right now.

"Nothing my ass Roxane." She rolled her eyes as she spoke. "What's bothering you? Talk to me."

"We've…" She took a deep breath as she sank back into her chair, closing her eyes as she whispered the words that had been breaking her heart for the past three weeks. "We've been trying to have a baby."

She held her breath as she waited for Emo's response, but nothing came.

When she reopened her eyes Emo was staring back at her softly, a gentle smile on her face.

"What does that have to do with this?" She didn't understand why Emo, and Ethan, didn't understand that this was breaking her heart.

She knew that the possibility of having a child was zero to none, but if there was even a sliver of hope, she was rolling with it.

"We can't have a baby with Levi in the picture." She choked out, tears forming in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around herself.

She wanted something she would never have and it was killing her.

"Says who?" Emo asked softly.

"Ethan." It's not that he said they could never have a baby of their own, but it wasn't happening anytime soon like they had planned.

"Honey…" The older woman gave her a look that said she was on to her bullshit. "I'm sure that's not what he meant."

"I just don't wanna wait anymore Emo." She sobbed out.

The other woman's arms were around her before she knew what was happening and she choked out a sob as she hugged her back tightly.

"Have you talked to Ethan about this honey?" Rox shook her head back and forth as she clung to her, sobs wracking through her body as she tried to calm herself down some.

"I don't know what to say." She whispered. "He wants Levi to come and stay with us so badly. I'm scared I'll piss him off if I keep bringing it up."

She didn't want to fight with him anymore and she knew that this was definitely the kind of conversation that would send him into a fit.

She just wanted things to be calm and normal for once.

"Give him a few days to wrap his head around things love." Emo pulled back and cupped her cheeks softly. "And then talk to him about this."

Rox nodded her head as she sniffled, trying to rid herself of the tears that were pooling in her eyes.

Emo simply pulled her back into her arms and held her tightly while she cried it out.

And Rox had never been more thankful for the older woman in her entire life.

After she left Emo's that night Rox headed to the one place where she knew she could get some answers, and some support.

So she headed toward Leanne's house after grabbing two cups of coffee, one for her and one for the other woman.

When she pulled into the driveway she could make out the sound of voices from inside the house and she froze for a second as she watched Ariel storm out onto the porch, slamming the front door behind her.

She almost backed up and drove off, especially when she realized that the teen and her mother must have been fighting, but then Ariel saw her and she knew there was no way of escaping now.

She offered the girl a soft wave as she turned off the engine of her car and exited the vehicle, closing the door softly behind her.

"Hey sweetie." She spoke softly in hopes of not angering the girl anymore and she watched as the teen dropped to the stairs in front of her. "Everything okay?"

"Mom and I got in a fight." She whispered, her eyes filling with tears as she looked up at her.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" She knew that the girl was starting to trust her more and more, but it was still hard to judge when that trust was going to be available.

"Did you know that dad has a son?" The question sent Rox's head spinning.

As far as she knew, Ethan was waiting until the weekend to tell the girl about her new little brother.

"Yes." She nodded her head softly as she moved to sit beside her. "I found out yesterday."

Ariel let out a sigh as she slammed her heels down on the ground softly.

"Was I the only one he didn't tell?" Her question was full of frustration, but not anger, and Rox totally understood.

She had been slightly jealous that he had told Leanne and Ed first.

"He was waiting for the weekend love." She wasn't really sure why Ethan wanted to wait, but she knew that he had his reasons. "I don't think he wanted you stressing about it with school and everything."

"I don't get it." She whispered. "Why couldn't he have told me himself?"

Rox was confused, if Ethan didn't tell her, than who did?

"Wait, your father didn't tell you?" She asked softly.

"No." Ariel let out a breath as she turned toward her, her eyes red and raw from hours of crying. "There was a letter in the mail addressed to Leanne. It was asking for a character reference for dad. So that he could get custody of his son."

"Oh baby." Rox couldn't believe that the girl had to find out that way, it wasn't fair. "You know that your father couldn't have known that would happen."

She shook her head back and forth as she sniffled.

"Why didn't he just tell me when he found out?" She raised her voice a little with her question and Rox could hear the pain in her voice. "We tell each other everything. We don't keep secrets. This is a secret! A big one!"

Rox totally understood where she was coming from and she wished she had words of wisdom to offer the poor girl.

"I'm sorry honey." She said softly as she reached out and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. "I know this isn't how any of us wanted this to go."

She knew that Ethan had wanted to make this as smooth and gentle of a transition for them all.

"I just… I need a few minutes." The teen whispered as her head fell forward.

"Okay hun." Rox pressed a soft kiss against her hair before pulling away and standing up. "I'm gonna go inside and talk to your mom. If you wanna take the car you can, I'm gonna leave the keys on the table by the door, okay?"

"Thank you." She smiled up at her softly and Rox simply nodded her head in response before heading inside and seeking out the woman she had come to see in the first place.

Rox had found Leanne in the kitchen, furiously stirring what looked like cookie batter, and she stopped and leaned against the wall as she watched the woman work.

"How horrible of a mother am I?" Leanne asked softly as she continued to stir, her eyes never leaving the bowl despite the fact that she obviously knew of Rox's presence in the room.

"On a scale of one to ten?" She knew that she could joke with the woman about the matter at hand, because that's just what they did.

"Like a twelve right?" She lifted her head and offered her a curious glance.

"Maybe a two." Rox stuck her hand out toward her, offering her the cup of coffee she had brought her as she pushed herself off the wall and headed into the room some more. "Not quite a twelve."

"She hates me." She whispered as she went back to her stirring.

Rox watched as she paused and added more chocolate chips and she couldn't help but chuckle.

"She hates Ethan." Rox countered back. "For the moment. But it won't last."

"She was really angry Rox." Leanne's words didn't shock her one bit.

"I'm sure she was." She moved to the counter beside Leanne and hoisted herself up onto the space, offering her a soft look as she spoke. "That's a hell of a way to find out you have a little brother."

"I felt so bad for her." She expected Leanne to try and make her get down, like she always did, but for once she just went back to what she was doing and ignored her. "She was so hurt."

"I know." Rox could only imagine how painful that must have been for the teen. "She's a tough girl Leanne. And her and Ethan have a special bond, you know they'll be okay after they hash it out."

The other woman nodded her head as she grabbed her cookie scoop and started dropping the dough onto the cookie sheets beside her.

They sat in silence for a few minutes when the front door opened slowly.

And then there were bare feet on the hardwood floor and Ariel appeared in the doorway.

"Hi sweetie." Rox hoped that the girl would join them and that they could all sit down and talk about everything.

"Hi." She whispered as she leaned against the door frame. "Can I go see dad?"

Leanne turned to her and let out a soft sigh before nodding her head.

"Yeah baby, that would be okay." She offered her a soft smile as she brushed some flour off of her hands and reached out for her.

The teen stepped into her arms with a sigh, but hugged her back nonetheless.

"Can I stay the night?" She was shocked to hear the girl ask that question, normally she waited until it was Ethan's 'turn' to have her, especially lately.

"If you want." Leanne's response was soft and the teen smiled back at her as she pulled away. "Just make sure you do your homework. And don't forget you have soccer tryouts tomorrow so you need your bag."

The girl nodded her head before taking off down the hall and up the stairs toward her room.

"I'm shocked she asked that." Rox said softly.

She could see the torment in Leanne's eyes and she instantly felt bad.

"She's been wanting to spend more time with him lately." Leanne whispered. "I guess she likes it better with you guys these days."

Rox let out a sigh as she hopped down off the counter and moved to stand next to the woman.

"That's not true Leanne." She hoped that the woman never felt jealous of her for any reason. "She loves being with you and Ed too."

She really didn't understand why the girl wanted to be with her and Ethan more and more here lately, but she didn't mind it one bit.

"I guess I have too many rules." The other woman shrugged her shoulders and Rox sighed.

"That's not it." She knew that couldn't be the case because Ethan was harder on the girl than her mother was. "I'm sure she's just going through a phase."

Leanne simply nodded her head before returning to her cookies, blinking her eyes as she tried to get rid of the tears that were threatening to fall.

"I can go if you want to be alone." She understood that feeling all too well and she didn't want to invade the woman's space if she needed to breathe.

"Will you take her with you?" Leanne asked softly after a minute.

"Sure thing." Rox reached out and squeezed Leanne's arm before stepping around her and heading toward the stairs.

Ariel came bounding back down them a minute later and Rox smiled at her as she stopped on the bottom step.

"Are you my ride?" She asked excitedly.

"Sure am." She didn't want Leanne to get upset over how excited the teen seemed to be to be coming over, so she tried to maintain her enthusiasm as well. "Let's go."

"Okay." Ariel poked her head around the wall into the kitchen and called a 'goodbye' to her mother before heading back toward the door.

Rox followed her down to the car, her hands trembling as she realized that Leanne's heart must be breaking at the idea of her little girl wanting to be with someone other than her.

She didn't know what to say or how to fix it though, so she bit her lip as she climbed inside the vehicle and turned it on.

The pair drove the rest of the way to Ethan's house in silence, both lost in their own thoughts, and Rox prayed that she could help make things right between the girl and her mother again.

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