Envelope 25

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"I am coming over," Reddington said onto Don Ressler's voicemail before he hung up.

"Raymond…" Denbe warned him.

"No, I have left four messages and I know the children are in bed," Raymond said as Denbe drove through the streets toward Chevy Chase. "That young man's head is…well, it's not in a good place after today."

"Fine, but understand you may want to help him, but he may not want your help," Denbe said. "Sometimes you need to walk alone Raymond."

Raymond nodded and looked out the window, hoping Donald would, at least, open the door.

Don sat on the poof in her room looking at Agnes as she slept. The light from the hallway came in just enough to make out her features. He couldn't make sense of everything in court today. He had not had sex with Liz almost seven years ago. He knew that. Knew it. But the lawyer was right, the odds were…well, he was never a math person, but he knew it was…not probable.

He leaned in and looked at Agnes' face, a face he knew so well but now was looking at closely. Don studied her nose, it was similar to his, but the rest of her face was all Liz.

"This is crazy," Don whispered as he sat back.

Then she shifted and suddenly in this new position there was something…Ressler…about her expression. She looked serene like his mother with an expression he'd seen on his ma's face when she used to fall asleep on the couch and he covered her with a blanket.

"What the…" Don said as he leaned in again to look closer.

Just then, there was a knock at his door and Don looked suddenly over his shoulder and then back at Agnes. He had seen the messages from his mother, his brother, Aram, Cooper, Park and Reddington and ignored them all. Now, one of them was at his door. Part of him wanted to ignore the door and stay hiding in Agnes' room ignoring the conjecture of others, their outrage, their disbelief, their questions…

He was not a stupid man. He may have slept with some forgetful women over the years, but he hadn't forgot one of them, and he knew he would remember sleeping with Liz almost 7 years ago.

The knock came again.

Don huffed and pushed himself up to standing and turned and walked out of the room, noting as he looked at his phone, that the name Raymond Reddington has been texted to him by his security detail.

Don slowly walked down the stairs toward the door, half hoping that Reddington would go away before he got there. He hadn't.

"I was jus about to go to bed," Don said as he opened the door. He was lying, of course, but he didn't want them to stay long.

"It's 9pm Donald," Reddington said as he breezed past him and into Don's living room.

"And it's been a long day," Don said as he shut the door behind him and Denbe.

"Donald, I hope you know that there must be a reasonable explanation," Reddington said.

"I know what I did, and didn't do, with Liz when she stayed with me those few days," Don said as he walked toward a chair and sat down.

"I consulted a geneticist after court adjourned and he said…"

"I googled it too," Don interrupted him. "It's possible Liz and Tom produced a child with Agnes' blood type, possible but not probable."

"12%" Reddington said. "So, it's possible."

"And my blood type is 96%," Don said as he leaned forward heavily on his knees.

"Donald, I know that this is a sensitive topic," Reddington started. "But were you ever a sperm donor?"

"No," Don said, looking at him perplexed.

Reddington sighed.

"It doesn't make sense," Don said. "We…we didn't…"

"Then it's the 12%," Reddington said as he looked at the young man running the scenario in his head again and again. "Why was she staying with you?"

Don closed his eyes for a moment and sat back in his chair.

"It ended with Tom and she came over, she needed a friend," Don said. "We talked, ordered pizza, it was late and she stayed over. I slept on the couch. We went to work together the next day, then she came home with me again…"

"And?" Reddington asked as he looked at him.

"Nothing," Don said.

"What?" Reddington asked.

"We…the weekend then came and we fell into a routine…"

"Of what?" Reddington asked.

"Pretending," Don said. "Pretending we weren't alone because we had each other. We went to a movie, went to an Italian place, talked late, that sort of thing."

"And, nothing happened?"

Don looked at Reddington and then looked down at his hands.

"Donald?" Reddington asked.

"Things happened, but not sex," Don said elusively.

Reddington raised an eyebrow.

"We've always been complicated," Don said.

"I can gather that," Don said with a sigh.

"But I know, I know, there wasn't any sex," Don said clearly. "And unless biology has changed…"

"When is the paternity test?" Denbe asked.

"Tomorrow at 10am," Don said. "Agnes doesn't know, she just knows we have to get our cheeks swabbed from a doctor."

Denbe nodded.

"I am sure it's just he defence grand standing," Reddington said as he stood.

Don nodded and stood as well.

Reddington noticed a look pass across his face that was….different.

He tilted his head to the side asking for explanation.

"When she stayed over and…Christopher…" Don said. "Liz was on hormones to get pregnant. I always thought she wanted a baby, a sibling for Agnes…"

Reddington looked at him oddly. "You knew about the hormones?"

"No," Don admitted.

Reddington sighed.

"I found out afterwards," Don explained. "But could she have wanted…an actual sibling for Agnes?"

"If you aren't Agnes' biological father than that doesn't align," Reddington said as he walked to the door.

"True," Don nodded as he followed him.

"Do the paternity test Donald," Reddington said. "That will solve the riddle for you."

Don nodded and allowed them out his front door.

"Try and get some rest," Reddington said.

Don nodded and shut the door behind them.

He leaned his back against the door and rested his head against the closed wood door.

To be continued…