The roof access door slammed open as Daredevil stormed in, nearly tripping down the stairs as he threw off the pieces of his armor. He headed directly into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him as he threw up.
Foggy was violently ripped from the dead sleep he had succumbed to on the couch. "What the hell?!" he cried out as he almost reached for his bat. Then his brain rebooted from sleep. Only one person is going to come through that roof access, and he lives here. Then Foggy saw the bits of Daredevil's armor all over the floor and heard the harsh retching coming from the bathroom. "Oh shit," he whispered. This wasn't good at all. He gently knocked on the bathroom door. "Matt? Are you okay?"
Foggy heard Matt heave again from behind the door. "Just when I thought that the lowest parts of humanity had hit bottom, they find a way to crawl deeper into the cesspool," Matt gasped out in between bouts of his stomach rebelling against him.
It was far worse than Foggy thought. "Matty, I'm coming in. Please don't hit me," Foggy warned as he eased the door open. Once the door was cracked, Foggy saw what was left of Daredevil on the floor. He slipped inside and found Matt sitting on the floor in only his boxers, leaning against the wall with his knees drawn up and his head in his hands while his whole body was shaking. Foggy flushed the toilet and sat down on the floor in front of Matt, placing his hand gently on his shoulder. "Talk to me, buddy. You're kind of scaring me."
Matt took a few breaths to try to calm himself down, but it wasn't working. "You know that scream that we both heard?"
"Yeah. It was close."
"Close but I still wasn't fast enough," Matt said bitterly. "It belonged to a girl who was getting robbed by four assholes. Actually, that's too high of a word for what they were. She was young, probably no more than twenty-two at best, and she was pregnant- very pregnant. I could clearly her both her heart and the baby's. She resisted this scum at first and then they grabbed her, two of them holding her while the other two beat her. So I get there and start taking down the two that were actively attacking her when a third jumps in. It's not exactly easy when it's three on one but I put them where garbage belongs before turning on the last one. He was just a straight up coward, using the girl as a shield. He pissed himself before throwing that poor girl aside and ran off. I didn't go after the little shit. The girl needed so much more help."
Matt paused and Foggy took that opportunity to at least get him some water.
"The girl was downright terrified. She first thought I was going to finish the job. To help calm her down, I let her see my face for a moment as I tried to reassure her that I wouldn't hurt her. She started crying more as I picked her up off the ground and just held her while I called Brett. In between sobs, she was calling me her savior and she was panicking about her baby. She was bleeding so much and struggling to breathe when the ambulance arrived. At least she was still conscious when they got her in the ambulance. I know Brett saw me going back into the shadows before I came back here because he asked where the trash who did this to her was. I pointed to the dumpster."
"Were they still alive?" Foggy asked even though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.
Matt nodded. "They might be pissing blood and eating through a straw, but they'll live. I would love to hear the DA rip them apart."
Foggy had stopped breathing about halfway through what Matt had been telling him. It was no wonder why Matt had gotten sick after that. Foggy could easily see how his best friend was spiraling downwards with guilt and had to what he could to stop that. "Now, what about you? Are you broken anywhere or just banged up?"
Matt shifted so Foggy could see some of the bruises on his torso and arms. The ones on his back were pretty similar. "Just banged up. Nothing broken," Matt reassured him softly as the adrenaline was finally leaving.
Foggy sighed with relief and slipped into 'take care of Matt' mode. "How about this? You take a hot shower and I'll make a few phone calls to see if I can find out more. You want sweats or pjs?"
"Sweats. They're warmer."
Foggy stood up. "I'll get your sweats and your fuzzy socks. Hoodie or t-shirt?"
"Hoodie will be easier. Everything hurts too much to move right now."
Foggy reach down to take Matt's hand to help him up. "Can you stand?"
Matt nodded and heaved himself off the floor with Foggy's help and was pulled into a tight hug by Foggy. Some of the tension started to dissipate so it was a start.
Foggy let go when he felt Matt starting to pull back. He stepped aside and turned on the hot water in the shower. "I'll be in the living room," he told his best friend as he excused himself from the bathroom to go grab Matt something to wear.
More than a half an hour later, Matt emerged from the bathroom, gingerly pulling on his zip-up hoodie and moving like a man in more pain than he was letting on.
Foggy got up from the couch to help him. "Couch or bed, buddy?"
"Couch. I don't want to go to sleep yet," Matt admitted.
Foggy wrapped his arm around Matt's back and nudged him towards the couch, getting the sense that Matt didn't want to focus right now, even in his own apartment. Once seated, Foggy wrapped a fluffy blanket around Matt's shoulders and set a mug of hot tea in his hands. "It's ginger. It should help to settle your stomach."
Matt thanked him as he took a few cautious sips, hoping that it would stay down. He was finally starting to calm down and feel more like himself again. "I'm sorry I woke you up, Foggy."
"I'm not," Foggy stated as he sat down beside Matt. "This is one of the exact reasons why I would want you to wake me up. It's one of the reasons we agreed to be roommates again other than the obvious financial benefits. I want to be here for you when you have a bad night. Whether it's getting you ice and a blanket or holding you together until we get you actual help or just listening when you need to vent, I'm here. You're my best friend and I care about you, even if you forget to care about yourself."
Matt smiled slightly. "I'm getting better at that. You should go to bed so at least one of us will be functional for work tomorrow."
"Nope. No can do, buddy," Foggy said as he got comfortable on the couch. "I'm not going to bed until you do."
Matt sighed. He knew he would not win this battle of wills with Foggy and eventually both of them would end up uncomfortably passed out on the couch. He finished his tea and moved to get off the couch, but pure exhaustion left him unable to move. "Help me up?"
"I'm glad you see reason, counselor," Foggy laughed as he helped Matt to get up from the couch. "Bedtime, Daredevil."
"Am I getting a bedtime story?"
"I can probably come up with one."
The next morning, Foggy's cell phone was going off just past eight in the morning. Karen. "Good morning," he said as he answered the phone and finished making breakfast.
"Morning Foggy. Just want to make sure that you two will be close to on time today. You both know that you have several meetings this morning."
"We will. Matt's just finishing up now," Foggy assured her. "He didn't have a great night last night."
"How badly hurt is he?"
"Physically, not much at all. Emotionally is a whole other story. Literally made him sick to his stomach."
Karen sighed. "What can I do? How can I help?"
"I don't know yet. This hit Matt hard. He pulled four assholes off a pregnant woman who had beaten her up. He's beating himself up over not doing more for her."
"Is she alive?" Karen asked cautiously.
"She was last night when she was put in an ambulance."
"I'll make some calls later to see what I can find out. I'll see you in a few. Maybe I can get a small surprise for Matt."
"He would love you more than he already does if you stop at that little café he likes."
Karen laughed. "I'll get something for you too."
"You know how much we love you, right Karen?"
"Bye Foggy."
Work was a welcome distraction from the previous night's events. Foggy and Matt were working together, planning for several of their upcoming cases while Karen got to digging around to see if she could find out more about the girl Matt saved the previous night. She sent a text to Jessica Jones to see if she had heard anything because Karen knew as well as Jessica that sometimes the NYPD needed a little help digging a little deeper into a story.
It took a few hours, but some hits were made. Jessica called back late afternoon while Matt and Foggy were off taking a deposition.
"Some of this was easier to come by than others," Jessica started. "Some of this came straight from Claire since she was on duty in the ER last night. Severely beaten pregnant woman arrives in the ER just after one in the morning, semiconscious and in active labor. The baby was delivered by c-section sometime around two and taken to the NICU for observation. Mother's name is Maeve Norey, age twenty-one. No living immediate family. The hospital was trying to find someone to call on her behalf. The found a few so-called friends in her cell phone. This is where it gets interesting. Apparently Miss Norey was trying her hand at being a Broadway star but not having much luck. She was going to audition after audition with not much success while struggling to hold down some temp jobs on the side. She was staying with these so-called friends because she couldn't even start to think of affording a place on her own. Well, these 'friends' were expecting her to contribute to expenses when she obviously had no means to."
"Sounds like there's more," Karen interjected.
"The hospital was trying to find out some info for the birth certificate – like the baby's father. I called some of these numbers and they were just so willing to sell this girl down river. They said that around the time that she conceived, she had gone to multiple parties where she had gotten very drunk and hooked up with multiple men at each of these events – possibly for money. She was definitely a 'one and done' type of girl and didn't exactly learn the names of her partners. The baby's father could be any one of possibly up to twenty different guys. None of these friends were planning on helping this girl once the baby was born. They were going to cast her out in the streets"
"So, this will end up in DCFS soon enough," Karen sighed sadly. "Thanks for your help, Jessica."
"Don't make a habit of it and tell Matt he owes me a bottle of something good. Nothing cheap, like last time."
"I'll help him pick it out myself."
After the last twenty-four hours, Foggy insisted that they have a Josie's night after the firm closed. They all needed it. They were two rounds in and starting their third game of pool when Karen's phone started buzzing with text notifications from Jessica.
'Just heard from Claire – the DD new mom died from complications just after 5. Baby will be sent to St Agnes when released'
Karen brought her hand up to her mouth to try to hide the gasp as she handed her phone to Foggy.
"What's going on? Both of your heartrates just spiked," Matt asked as both of his friends fell silent.
Foggy looked over to Karen, who now had tears in her eyes, silently asking who was going to tell Matt.
"Will one of you please talk to me? Something is wrong," Matt insisted.
"Jessica heard from Claire," Foggy started. "Claire was on duty when the girl was brought in. Her baby was delivered early this morning. The mom passed away just after five this evening due to complications. The baby will be sent to St. Agnes once she is released from the hospital."
Matt's breathing sped up and his hands clenched into hard fists as his whole body started shaking with the tension of trying to hold himself together. "I need to go," he ground out as he started to make his way out of the crowded bar, forgetting the full blind man act.
Foggy didn't hesitate in going after him. "Matt! Stop!' he called out just outside the door.
Matt hadn't gotten far when Foggy called out to him. He turned around, rage and guilt seething beneath the surface.
"I know where you're going, and you can't. Not now," Foggy called out to him as he got closer.
"I have to do something," Matt spat back.
"What are you going to do? Go find the fourth one who got away? How? It was a cold trail twenty-four hours ago and you certainly won't find him now. The three you did get may now be facing a murder charge depending on what the medical examiner rules on cause of death. They'll sell him out to try and get time off their sentence. You go out now, you will regret it. You'll unleash on someone who may or may not deserve it and you may not be able to pull back before you end up killing them." Foggy could see that he was getting through to Matt. Matt was still coiled tight like and overwound spring, but he was listening. "Do you feel like you owe this woman something? I'll tell you straight up – that debt has already been paid. If you hadn't shown up last night, I can guarantee that she and her baby would have died in that alley last night. You stopped that. You got her help. She was able to see her baby. She may not have made it, but the baby has a chance and that's because of you."
"So, what the hell am I supposed to do?" Matt ground out. "I can't just sit back on this."
"I understand. But for now, come back inside. Get plastered. If you're hungover tomorrow, we'll take a day just to bullshit around the apartment. You want to get out of here? Cool. We'll tell Karen and we'll bail. You can beat the shit out of the bags at Fogwell's or use your dad's old heavy bag and speed bag that we hung up in the apartment. But I am not going to stand idly by if you try to go out tonight."
"You think you could really stop me?" Matt said, almost challenging Foggy.
"If I needed to – yes, I could."
Foggy's heartrate didn't fluctuate on this. He was ready to kick Matt's ass if necessary to keep him from releasing the Devil.
Matt deflated a bit and took Foggy's arm to lead him back inside. Karen came up and hugged him while Foggy went up to the bar and got him his favorite whiskey, neat – a double – because beer just wasn't going to cut it now.
The next morning, the office was quiet and the mood more somber, mostly due to both Matt and Foggy nursing headaches from the night before. A bottle of Jameson will do that. Yesterday's events were a heavy fog.
Maggie. Maggie. Maggie
Matt's phone brought him a bit out of his brain fog. "Hello, mom."
"Matthew, you sound absolutely terrible."
"The aftermath of excessive drinking and beating a heavy bag for over two hours will do that. My head is pounding and I can't move my arms."
"What would possess you do to that?"
Matt sighed, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose to try to alleviate the ever-present pounding. "Someone died that shouldn't have and I chose poorly in my method of dealing with it."
Maggie was seconds from admonishing her son about how he dealt with grief but quickly thought the better of it. He was already beating himself up. "I'm sorry, Matthew. Was it someone close to you?"
"No, just someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Maggie could put the pieces together well enough without Matt directly saying it. "I hope their soul is at peace," she said softly. "I am actually calling because I am in need of your legal expertise and services."
Matt woke up a little. "Let me just grab Foggy and I'll put you on speaker. Give me just a second." Matt pushed back from his desk as he set his phone down, crossing across his office and popping his head out. "Foggy. Come in here."
Foggy groaned as he forced himself to move from his desk. "What's going on?
"Hello, Franklin."
Foggy took a minute for his brain to recognize the voice. "Sister Maggie, nice to hear from you. What's going on?"
"I was hoping that I could make an appointment with you and Matthew to discuss some legal matters today."
"Yeah, we can easily do that. Matt, our afternoon is pretty open if I remember correctly," Foggy asked.
"How does three work?" Matt asked.
"That will be fine. I'll see you both then and bring Karen with you," Maggie confirmed. "And Matthew, Franklin…perhaps you both should get some water and a nap before then. It sounds like you both need it."
"We'll try. I'll see you later."
"Feel better, Matthew."
"Did Maggie say exactly what she needed to discuss?" Foggy asked when matt hung up with his mother.
Matt shook his head. "No, but usually it deals with money left behind to orphaned children and setting up trusts and protecting it. We'll find out this afternoon."
Matt, Foggy and Karen arrived at St Agnes' just as some of the older children were coming back from school. When the kids saw Matt they were overjoyed, giving him high fives and hugs as they passed him. Foggy and Karen knew that Matt volunteered at the orphanage a great deal but they were clearly unaware of the impact he had.
"You didn't tell me how much those kids seriously love you," Foggy commented as they waited in Maggie's office. "I think they love you as much as my nieces and nephews do."
The greetings from the kids did a lot to bring up Matt's mood. "I try just to be there for them, unlike what I had. The little ones like reading to me since I can't read to them unless it's in Braille. They also like teasing me for my lack of drawing skills. The older ones, especially the boys, like that I'm willing to play sports with them. I'm also a good listener when they need to vent. Better than some of the stiff and uptight nuns. Some of the girls are shy around me. Maggie says they all have crushes on me."
"Well, you do have that handsome, wounded duck thing going for you," Foggy chimed in.
"And the puppy dog eyes when you let people see them," Karen added.
"I can come back if you two want to keep embarrassing him," Maggie interrupted as she entered the office.
Matt and Foggy quickly stood up for Maggie, seeing that they were occasionally known as gentlemen.
"Sit, please. I know you are busy," Maggie mentioned as she pulled out a small, thin folder.
"You mentioned that you needed our help with something," Matt spoke up.
"Yes, I do," Maggie confirmed as she passed the folder to Foggy. "We often have the unfortunate circumstances of handling issues such as wills and life insurance and making sure the children get what they are entitled to and it is protected for them until they come of age. With many of the older children, their parents had set up bank accounts and such and it is just a matter of paperwork. This situation is different because she's so young as her mother was. She doesn't even have a social security number yet."
Foggy thumbed through the few documents that were in this almost empty folder. An unofficial copy of the record of birth with the baby's first and last name, time and date of birth, hospital with delivering doctor and the mother's info. A coroner's report for the death of the birth mother. No death certificate yet. Two lives summed up in a manila folder. "So you need to set up a protected trust with a legal guardian for the child and find out if the mother had any life insurance or bank accounts which the baby would be beneficiary to."
"The problem that may arise is that the mother may have decided on a different beneficiary because the child had not yet been born. That's where any legal battles might arise," Matt chimed in as he started picking up hearing a baby crying over the din of kids returning from school.
"So, you need us to discover if the mother had anything to her name?" Karen asked.
"Other than the six dollars she had in her wallet and a cell phone when she died," Maggie supplied sadly.
Matt paled at the comment, swallowing hard to fight back the nauseated feeling that he had failed. The baby's cries cut into his self loathing. "Can we meet her? She is more or less our client."
Maggie checked her watch as she led them to the small makeshift nursery that had been quickly set up since she was the only baby there. "It is about time for her to be fed. I must warn you that she doesn't settle down, even after feeding. She fights back against cuddling. She cries or whimpers until she exhausts herself."
Matt was paying attention to the cries as they got closer. It sounded like she was working herself up into a frenzy. "Silver tongue aside, forgive me for saying this, but as someone who used to live here and speaking from experience, some of the nuns here are a little harsh and downright frightening - yourself included," he stated as he followed Maggie. "And I was not an infant less than a week old."
"What point are you trying to make, Matthew?" Maggie asked as she picked up the crying baby and changed her diaper.
"Let me try."
"Come again?"
"Let me try. She needs calm. I can hear your heart pounding out of your chest from here and I can smell the fear coming off of you in waves since the last time you dealt with a baby this small, it was me. I got some of the teenagers to talk when you couldn't and even if she fights me, she's not going to give me two black eyes and a split lip," Matt pointed out as he started to take off his jacket, glasses and tie.
Maggie considered what Matt was saying. "You have experience with babies?"
"He's been around my nieces and nephews for years," Foggy confirmed.
Maggie sighed, willing to try anything at this point. "There's an armchair directly behind you to the left with a table next to it if you'd like to sit while feeding her."
Matt turned and easily found the chair his mother had described. He sat down and held out his arms to take the baby. "What's her name?"
"Grace. Her name is Grace," Maggie stated as she set the crying baby in Matt's arms.
Matt cradled the baby in his left arm, close to his chest while rubbing small circles with his right thumb on her back. "Hi Gracie," he said softly to her.
Grace started calming down and her cries were becoming little hiccups as she curled into Matt.
"I know things are loud right now. I get that way too. You know what works for me? I listen for my best friend's heartbeat and I focus on that. The rest goes away," Matt told her softly. He started to feel the baby relax in his arms. He held out his right hand for her bottle. "Now, that you're a little calmer, are you hungry?" Matt felt where her mouth was with the tip of his thumb and put the nipple of the bottle on her lips and Grace started sucking hungrily.
Foggy smiled knowingly as the baby just calmed right down with Matt. "Baby whisperer still has it," he whispered to Karen.
Maggie was downright shocked to see how quickly the baby took to Matt without any fuss. "Jesus, Mary and Joseph. I didn't think it was possible."
"I half expected something else to come out of your mouth," Matt commented as Grace finished the bottle. "Do you have a burp rag or something? I don't exactly want her spitting up on me with the amount of gas bubbles I can hear in her belly."
Karen was impressed at how well Matt dealt with the baby and quickly realized that they were intruding. She started to nudge Foggy. "We should go back so we can get started with this."
Foggy nodded in agreement. "Matt? You coming?" he asked even though he already knew the answer just by looking at his best friend.
"I'll catch up later," Matt said softly as he shifted the baby up to his shoulder.
"We'll text you in a bit," Foggy said as he and Karen left.
Matt took the burp rag from Maggie, placing it on his shoulder as he started to rub Grace's back. "I can hear you hovering. I've got this. I know you have a long list of other things to do," he told her reassuringly.
"You most certainly do," Maggie responded. "There's diapers and wipes on the table next to the crib and more pre-made bottles of formula. There's a blanket to swaddle her in if she gets cold. The crib is about six steps in front of you. I'll come back to check on you."
Matt let out a sigh of relief when Maggie made her exit. He alternated between rubbing and patting Grace's back to get the burp out. "It's just us now. No more audience. Honestly, I really didn't care if you threw up on me. It just means I would need a new shirt and I'd have to go downstairs to see if there was a donated one that would fit me. Not like I haven't done it before." Matt kept rubbing and felt two good burps come out and was happy when nothing came up with them. "I bet you feel better after that. A full belly and no more bubbles."
Grace put her head down on Matt's shoulder and started to snuggle into him more as he kept rubbing her back, his hand nearly covering her with how small she was.
"I think you're right. Time to get comfy. Let's see if we can find your blanket here." Matt stood up as he held Grace close to him. He silently counted the steps in the direction which Maggie had said the crib was. He kicked it on the fifth step. Matt held on to her with one arm while he felt around the crib for the blanket. He eventually found one that was small, thin and definitely not warm enough in his opinion for March. The orphanage had always been drafty. In the back of his mind, he felt he had to do something about this later on.
Matt settled back into the chair, stretching his legs out in front of him and toeing his shoes off. Grace started squirming and whimpering against him. "We were doing so well. What's wrong?" he asked the baby softly as if she would give him an answer. "I would smell it if your diaper needed changing. I got your blanket. No gas bubbles that I can hear." Matt paused and thought about it for the moment and realized where he settled her on his chest. "The buttons are bothering you. I can fix that. Just give me a second since I have to do this one handed." Matt unbuttoned his shirt and shifted Grace so she was laying against his skin. He placed her head right near his heart and covered her back with her blanket, wrapping his arms around her back and underneath her to keep her snug. Matt smiled as he leaned his head against hers and felt her settle. "Just focus on my heartbeat and my voice. The rest will go away." It wasn't long before Grace fell asleep.
As it was passing after eight in the evening and the younger children were starting to be put to bed, Maggie put a call into to Foggy.
"What's wrong?" Foggy answered after only one ring. "Is he still there?"
"Nothing is wrong, Franklin. Yes, he is still here and we will be locking up for the night soon. He has only left that room to use the bathroom and of course that baby cried as soon as he left her. He hasn't eaten anything. It's not that I don't appreciate what he's done today but I know he's getting exhausted and he will need help leaving otherwise he will be sleeping in the basement."
"I'll be there in a few."
The orphanage had a completely different feel at night than it did during the day. During the day, you heard children playing and laughing. Nighttime was far more ominous. In the shadows of the church with the red lights from the windows as the only illumination aside from the last few lights from inside, it was creepy and slightly terrifying. It was sending chills down Foggy's spine and he didn't live here for nearly a decade like Matt did.
Foggy crossed through the iron gate and knocked on the door. He was let in by a younger nun that he hadn't met before. He thanked her when she led him back to Maggie's office since navigating the darkened hallways was a challenge.
"He was giving her a bottle last I checked on them. I shouldn't have been able to go unnoticed as often as I did," Maggie commented as she led Foggy down the hall.
Maggie gestured for Foggy to be quiet as they walked past the rooms of sleeping children. Maggie paused just outside the nursery door and tilted her head for Foggy to look inside.
The room was dark because it's not like Matt needs lights to get around. The only light was what slipped in from the dimmed hallway. Foggy peeked in to see Matt rubbing the baby's back after burping her with his head leaning against hers. It was so calm and peaceful that Foggy hated to interrupt.
Maggie stepped inside first and turned on a lamp, catching the baby's attention.
Matt felt her head jerk up he picked up on the two other heartbeats in the room. Foggy and his mother. "Hi. What time is it?"
"It's time for you to go home and get some rest yourself, Matthew. I can take her for the night," Maggie said gently as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
Matt was trying to do some mental calculations on how long he had been here. Three bottles, two wet diapers and one nasty one, and two naps. "How long have I been here?"
"Almost five and a half hours, Matty," Foggy chimed in. "Time to go. Karen's waiting for us back the apartment."
Maggie tried to lift Grace out of Matt's arms as gently as possible and pulled her close like her son had but Grace quickly knew the difference. She started crying and arching her back against Maggie.
Matt gathered his things as Maggie set the crying baby back in the crib. The anguish of leaving her like this was written all over his face. He crossed over to the crib and placed his hand on her chest. "I'll be back tomorrow. I promise," he said softly to the crying baby.
Foggy stepped in, placing his hand on Matt's back. "Come on, buddy. It's time."
Matt reached up to rub her cheek, feeling her tears there. Her hand moved to his finger and it took every ounce of willpower that Matt had to pull back from that moment to take Foggy's arm to turn to leave.
Maggie wished them good night as they left the nursery, the baby's cries echoing through the halls. Every cry was a stake straight through Matt's heart until they were outside.
The walk home was largely silent and Foggy was a bit worried. Matt never took his cane out of his jacket and opted to just let Foggy guide him home. While he had not said much, Matt's mind was in overdrive on what to do next.
Matt was so stuck in his own mind that he nearly walked into the edge of his wall when he and Foggy got back to the apartment.
Foggy gently maneuvered Matt over to the couch to sit down before heading into the kitchen to grab him a water and an orange.
Karen looked up from her laptop at Foggy for some explanation as to what was going on. Matt had done a complete 180 from six hours earlier and it was a little concerning.
Foggy shook his head and gave Karen a look to warn her not to go into in right now as he pressed the orange into Matt's hands and set the water on the table in front of him. "Maggie said you hadn't eaten anything all day," Foggy gently urged, trying to get Matt back to the present.
Matt started to peel the orange slowly. "Can I ask you something?" he asked softly.
"Anything, buddy. What is it?"
Matt put a piece of orange in his mouth while he tried to find the right words to put his thoughts together. "What would you say if I told you that I wanted to foster Grace and then adopt her?"
That statement hit Foggy in the head like a softball from left field. He turned to Karen who looked almost equally as surprised. "Well, I'd have a few questions. For starters, I'd be curious as to your reasons why. Is this because you still feel like you owe something to her mother because you already settled that debt."
Matt shook his head. "It's not that at all. I would do that for you or Karen God forbid something happened. This is entirely different." He paused again. "I guess the best way that I can describe it is that I made a connection with her. When I held her, it just seemed like she belonged there. It was like she filled a hole in my heart that I didn't know existed."
Foggy smiled. He had known for a long time that Matt wanted a family someday. "Matty, you are always looking for signs and I would say this is a pretty damn, big sign. Well...little one because she's like six pounds. I saw something in you today that I have never seen before...peace. Everything just seemed right with the world at you held her. I also saw your heart literally shatter when she cried as we left. Maybe, you were meant to find her. Your Dad did it by himself and he did a damn good job."
"He didn't have much choice in the matter, Foggy. My mom wasn't there," Matt reminded him. "The difference is I am choosing this."
"And you need to remember that you are not alone in this," Karen added. "You have us and I know I would love to cuddle that little cutie. She'd be a lucky little girl to have you as her dad."
"Foggy, you're okay with this? It's going to affect you as well. At minimum, you'll lose your room."
"It's a sacrifice I can make to see my best friend that happy. It's not like we haven't shared a room before."
Matt felt the fog lift and everything became clear. "So, I guess I call the Department of Children and Family services in the morning to put in the request to foster her and file the petition for adoption."
"And tonight, we get takeout to celebrate and shop," Foggy said cheerfully. "If you're going to bring an infant here, we'll need some baby basics," he exclaims as he starts to reach for Karen's laptop since it was closer.
Karen was quick to flick Foggy's hand away. "You handle dinner. I will help Matt shop. It is for a girl after all."
Foggy stepped back with hands up in surrender. "I yield," he laughed as he headed to the kitchen for the takeout menus.
Karen moved to the couch next to Matt. "Alright, let's set up a 'need now' list and a registry for later."
Matt paled at first. "Please don't bust my bank account. "