A/N – I know this story is older but I was inspired to add this chapter. I am still around and plan to finish up my WIPs (and start some new ones!) but real life has been keeping me busy. Xoxo – tmtcltb
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June 2016
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"Captain Slattery, your daughter is on line two," McMahon stated, her head popping around the door to the conference room. "She said it was urgent."
Mike glanced up, his eye catching Tom's, who raised an eyebrow. Mike shrugged, having no idea what was going on. What he did know was that McMahon, administrative assistant extraordinaire, would never have interrupted a meeting without good cause. Especially when that meeting was with the President of the United States and the cabinet heads.
"Excuse me," Mike murmured, moving to the corner of the room in an effort to give himself a bit of privacy. Over the past year McMahon had become rather good at interpreting which of his seventeen-year-old daughter's hysterical calls were actual problems, as opposed to a crisis involving her social life (or lack thereof, if you were to ask Whitney, a calamity that she blamed completely on her father). Given that McMahon herself was all of twenty, Mike assumed that her skill in dealing with Whitney stemmed from her more recent experience dealing with teenage girls, even if it was difficult for Mike to imagine McMahon ever acting as temperamental as his eldest daughter. Picking up the phone, he spoke quietly. "Slattery here."
"Dad!" To Mike's surprise, it was his twelve-year-old daughter, Shaylyn, who spoke and not her older sister. Shay was by far the more levelheaded and Mike now understood why McMahon had interrupted them. Shaylyn sounded frantic. "You have to come home. Something's wrong with Mom."
Mike felt a pit open up in his stomach. "What's going on?"
"Mom went out this morning and when she came home she didn't have Kaito. I asked her where he was and she said he was with Mrs. Foster and she was going to take a nap."
Mike felt his heartbeat slow. Christine had a doctor's appointment that morning and Mike knew that she planned to drop the toddler off with his favorite babysitter rather than take him along. He set about reassuring his daughter. "The plan was always to drop Kaito off at Debbie's for the morning so that Mom could run errands. Sounds like she didn't feel well and asked Debbie to keep Kaito a little longer."
There was a long pause. "She's crying, Dad. She's been crying for more than an hour."
And just like that, Mike knew something was terribly, terribly wrong. Christine wasn't prone to dramatics. Hell, getting her to take the insomnia and migraines that had plagued her for the last several months seriously enough to even make a doctor's appointment had taken weeks of nagging. What could have happened this morning to make Christine come home in tears? Was it possible that his wife survived the Red Flu and being kidnapped by Allison Show only to be felled by one of the many common illnesses making a comeback in the wake of the virus, buoyed by the lack of medicine and medical professionals? Christine and the girls have been given complete health checks following their rescue over a year ago, and besides from some malnutrition and being underweight, all seemed fine.
Could that have changed?
Gripping the phone so tightly that he half expected the plastic to snap, Mike spoke as calmly as he could for the sake of his daughter, a child who had already lived through, and lost, far too much. "Don't worry, Shay. I'll come and talk to Mom. Find out what's going on. Is Whitney there too?"
Shaylyn sounded far from reassured. "No, she's at Kat's house."
Mike quickly formulated a plan. "Why don't you go over there as well? I'll call Andrea and let her know that you're on the way. Text me when you get there, okay?"
"Okay, Dad." Shaylyn's voice was soft and, for an instant, Mike was furious with his wife for doing this to their daughter. Terrifying her. But the anger was almost immediately replaced by an almost paralyzing fear. Christine loved their children more than life. She would never have put Shaylyn in such a position on purpose, or without reason.
Hanging up the phone, Mike took a deep breath and turned back to the table, wondering how he was going to get out of here, only to find President Oliver already waving him towards the door. "Go. Hopefully nothing too serious."
Nodding quickly, Mike once again thanked his lucky stars that the country had been blessed with this smart, thoughtful, and humble man to lead them. Willing to listen and well aware of his own limitations, Howard had surrounded himself with knowledgeable people and took their advice. But more than that, he treated them with respect. "I'll be back as soon as I can, sir."
Hurrying down the stairs to his truck, Mike first dialed Debbie Foster to make sure that she could continue to watch Kaito. Debbie picked up almost immediately and, when pressed, admitted to Mike that Christine sounded like she was crying when they initially spoke and that she was concerned for the other woman. After being reassured that Debbie had no plans and could keep Kaito as long as necessary, Mike next called Andrea and was only slightly surprised when Tex answered instead. For all of Andrea's protests that her relationship with Tex was one of friendship and co-habitation, Mike had more than a few suspicions that Tex, at least, harbored interests of a different sort. Deciding that was a conversation for another day, Mike quickly filled Tex in on his plan to send Shaylyn to spend the afternoon with Whitney and Kat.
Tex hadn't hesitated, the bonds formed on the Nathan James making any sort of explanation unnecessary. "No problemo. If I don't hear from you or the Missus by dinnertime, I'll take the girls to get tacos by the river. I'll even deal with the slobber."
Mike snorted. The taco stand by the river served decent food, but the real draw was the view of the sailors working on the docks. Since the work was menial, they were usually young, fit, and male. It was one of Whitney's favorite places to eat. "Don't let any of them accidentally fall in."
"And get their hair wet?" Tex exclaimed. "Mike, Mike, Mike, you clearly have no understanding of the female brain."
"Like you do?" Mike retorted, taking the last turn onto his street. "I'm almost home. Text me if anything comes up."
Two minutes later Mike opened the front door to his house, quickly checking the kitchen and Shaylyn's bedroom to make certain that his daughter was on her way to Andrea and Tex's home. He then approached the master bedroom. Hearing nothing, he tried to convince himself that Shaylyn was mistaken about the crying, and that Christine was simply sleeping off another headache. The last several months had been a revolving circle of insomnia, causing headaches, causing more insomnia, resulting in more headaches and the occasional touch of nausea. As he turned the knob, Mike held his breath, almost hoping that the room would be empty. That he and Christine had just missed each other, her leaving to pick up Kaito as he drove home.
But when he opened the door, Mike saw Christine lying curled up on the bed, a pillow tight against her chest and stomach. Even if the dim light, Mike knew that Shaylyn had been correct. Christine's face was red and splotchy, her breathing jagged, as thought she had cried herself to exhaustion.
"Just tell me," he begged, his voice hoarse. "Whatever is wrong, we can fix it. We can fight it. Hell, we defeated the Red Flu. There's got to be a solution to this."
Christine sat up, no apparent surprise at his appearance. Mike supposed she must have heard him enter the house. She fiddled with the fringe of the bedspread. "I saw Doc Rios today."
She stopped, and Mike wondered whether it was possible to die from anticipation. The pause seemed to last years, and Mike was reminded of those minutes in Pennsylvania when they first found the cabin where Christine and the girls were being held. Those moments when he watched the window, praying for a glimpse of his wife, his daughters, hoping against hope that they might still be alive.
"What?" He demanded, needing to break the silence.
Christine bit her lip, and then spoke quickly, as though forcing herself to say the words. "I'm pregnant."
Of all the things that Mike had considered since Shaylyn's call, this was not on the list. He moved further into the room, sitting down on the bed with a thud. Another baby. He hadn't thought it was possible, assuming he and Christine were too old now that they were in their mid-forties. "How did that happen?"
That drew a slight smile. "The usual way, Mike."
As the shock began to wear off, Mike found himself grinning. Another baby to love, anther child to raise, another presence around the dinner table. A playmate for Kaito, one closer in age than the girls. Sure having a newborn would be an adjustment, but they managed it with Kaito. Besides, he and Christine made damn fine kids, if he did say so himself.
Yet, even as Mike felt his body relax at the news that Christine was not going to die, reality struck. Christine was upset – clearly. With each of her prior pregnancies, she had been ecstatic. Her reaction to Kaito had been less than positive, but that situation was so different. His gaze turned back to Christine's tear-streaked face. "Is there something wrong with the baby?"
Christine quickly shook her head. "Everything looked good. Doctor Rios did an ultrasound, and neither one of us saw any reason for concern. He did suggest that I go see Doctor Thorton, as this isn't his area of expertise. There are more risks now, given my age. But I'm far enough along that the miscarriage risk is low."
Mike nodded, considering that information. While Rios's formal training was as a field medic, he spent much of his free time shadowing various doctors in Saint Louis in an effort to broaden his skill set and function as a general family practitioner. Mike could understand Rios being cautious, but he trusted the man enough to tell Christine if he saw a problem. "How far along?"
Christine smiled wryly. "Five months."
He blinked. "Five months?"
"Apparently we have ourselves a Valentine's Day baby," Christine murmured. She glanced towards the window. "I'm rather embarrassed that I didn't realize earlier. Doctor Rios was very kind, but he certainly isn't used to explaining the facts of life to his nurse."
"So the migraines and insomnia?" His mind was reeling again.
"Pregnancy hormones," Christine replied. "Nothing to worry about."
"Let me get this straight. You've been sick because you were pregnant. You're fine. And the baby looks fine." Christine nodded and Mike stared at his wife. "So, you want to tell me why you are in here sobbing?"
Christine reached over to her nightstand, picking up a small piece of paper and passing it to Mike. Looking at the ultrasound picture, Mike suddenly understood. This wasn't about that tiny unformed baby she was carrying at all.
This was about Lucas.
"I take it most babies don't have three legs?" Mike kicked himself the instant the words were out of his mouth. It was one of the things they worked on in therapy, he and Christine, the way that Mike used humor to deflect serious discussions.
But Christine let it slide. "No, Mike."
"A boy." He murmured. He remembered the day they found out Lucas was a boy. Mike had secretly been hoping for another girl, but as soon as the doctor said the word "boy", none of that mattered. He began dreaming of boy scouts and camping and fishing and football. That camp, the one where Lucas was infected, was supposed to be their first father-son camping trip before Mike was called away. He remembered promising Lucas that they would go again when he got home. So many things that Lucas never got to do together, so many things that Lucas never got to do at all. Mike struggled to put aside the memories. "He and Kaito will be what, about two years apart? That will be nice."
Christine didn't answer, her hands still playing with the bed-sheet, and she seemed to be fighting an internal batter. Mike stared at his wife, finally saying words out loud that he never dreamed of saying, his voice cracking. "Are you saying that you don't want this baby?"
Christine's head jerked up, eyes wide, and Mike felt relief at her shock. "Of course not! It's not that."
"Then what is it?" Mike demanded, knowing that he should try to be more sensitive but, damn it, that was just not him.
"What if Kaito thinks we don't want him anymore? What if he thinks we decided to have another baby because he wasn't enough? That we needed our own biological son? And the girls! What if they think we are trying to replace Lucas? We just got things back to normal and now we're having another baby. What if they feel displaced? And where in the world are we going to fit another baby!" Now that the dam had broken, Christine seemed unable to stop. She jumped to her feet, pacing back-and-forth across the small room, which was admittedly rather full with the bed, two nightstands, the crib, and an obscene number of infant clothes. She stopped in front of the window. "What if Lucas is out there, watching us, and wondering if we have forgotten him?"
Mike stood, approaching Christine slowly, waiting until she stopped before wrapping his arms around her. "I don't know how the girls will react. It will probably be a shock. It was to us. And maybe they will be upset. But none of that matters. Because we can work through it. As a family. I came home today because Shaylyn called me. She thought you were dying." Christine made a distressed sound, and Mike ran a hand down her back. "Just think how happy she'll be to find out that not only are you not dying, but that she's getting a little brother?"
He let that sink in before continuing. "As for Kaito, well, he probably won't have a clue what is going on for years, and we will just have to take it as it comes. You're the one who made me read all those books on international adoption, talking about how important it is for him to understand his story. So we do that. And we do our damn best to show him that we love him, and that he's part of our family."
"And Lucas?" Christine's voice was trembling and Mike wasn't sure how to respond. Nothing he said could bring Lucas back, nothing he said could make Christine forgive herself for what happened any more than Mike could forgive himself for not being there when his family needed him.
"Remember when Lucas was little and he would insist that there was a little brother in your belly?" Mike asked finally. Despite the tears that still rolled down her face, Christine smiled at the memory. Lucas had been about four, and convinced that Christine was hiding his "little brother" from him. "I'm not priest. I don't know what's out there, or if I believe that there is anything after this life. But, if there is, maybe Lucas knew something that we didn't. Maybe he's out there right now saying 'told you so'."
Christine pressed her face into Mike's chest, and he felt rather than saw the tears streaming down her face. "I hope so, Mike. God, I hope so."
They stood in silence for what felt like ages, Christine's tension slowly easing. Finally she stepped back, wiping her face with the back of her hands. "Do you think we can keep this to ourselves for a little while?"
Mike shook his head, hoping that he wasn't about to start another round of crying. "Shaylyn was pretty upset and I'm sure she told Whitney, who is bound to tell Kat, who will tell Tex and Andrea. Plus Debbie already knows that something is going on. I think the longer we wait, the more everyone is going to worry."
Sighing, Christina nodded. "You're right. Let me get cleaned up and then we can talk to the girls. I suppose it could be worse. I'm not due until November. That gives them a little time to adjust."
Mike snorted. "They did pretty well when I sprung an infant on them. Actually, I recall you being the one who didn't react so well."
He knew instantly that it was the wrong thing to say. Christine gave him a sharp look, stepping towards the bathroom, before Mike caught her arm. "Christine, I'm not saying that you're wrong to be scared or worried or upset. The thought of another baby is a little terrifying to me too. But more than that, I'm happy. Happy that we have another chance. Not because it's a boy, but because it's a child. Our child."
Her face relaxing slightly, Christine leaned up to press a gentle kiss on his lips. "You, Mike Slattery, can be a very wise man."
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Two hours later, Mike and Christine sat on their living room couch, facing their teenage daughters. Both looked terrified, and Mike was relieved that Christine agreed to tell them the news right away. Obviously they knew that something was going on and, like Mike himself, the girls had apparently jumped to the conclusion that any news was bad news.
"We have something that we want to tell you," Mike said, reaching for Christine's hand and squeezing it. "There's going to be another Slattery born in November. You two are going to have another baby brother."
Shaylyn reacted first. Her eyes lit up, and she threw herself across the room to hug her mother, squealing as she moved. "A baby?"
Christine laughed, some of her tension easing as she hugged her youngest daughter. "Yes, a little boy."
Shaylyn laughed. "I can't wait to tell Naomi! She wants a baby brother or sister so bad but her mother said no more kids and she's going to be so jealous and…."
Mike grabbed the girl, pulling her into a tight hug, cutting off the rambling words. At least one of the girls was reacting positively. Looking past Shaylyn, Mike noticed the shock on Whitney's face turn to anger. She stood, hands on hips. "I can't believe you would do this to me!"
"Do what?" Mike asked. "Unless you have something to tell us, you aren't the one who is pregnant."
"This is horrible!" Whitney threw up her arms. "You're ruining my life! Senior year is supposed to be the best year of my life and instead everyone is going to be paying attention to the baby! Don't even think about asking me to babysit."
With a huff, Whitney stormed down the corridor, slamming her bedroom door behind her. From her seat next to Christine, Shaylyn offered, "Jasper broke up with her again. She's in a bad mood."
Turning to his wife, Mike found his lip twitching. When he met Christine's eyes, they both broke out laughing, Whitney's dramatics simply too over the top. Tonight was undoubtedly not the last time they would have this conversation, and there were bound to be tough moments ahead. But for now, for tonight, Mike found himself basking in the joy of knowing that he was, once again, being given the opportunity to raise a child.
An opportunity that he would relish to the fullest extent possible.
