Disclaimer: I do not own Third Watch or any of its characters. I do own Alicia Garland...and I am not making any money off of this story! I wish!
The Only One: Chapter 8
Bosco woke up to an empty apartment and a phone that was ringing off the hook. He cursed loudly as he crawled over the blankets to reach the phone on the floor beside the bed. His hair was on end and his face was beginning to look scruffy. He needed a shower and a shave.
He reached the phone and yanked it off the hook. " What"! he shouted, in true Bosco style.
" Maurice! This is your mother"! Rose said angrily. " Get over here right now! Do you hear me? Right now"! and with that she hung up.
" DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT" Bosco yelled into the phone, before throwing it on the floor. He didn't bother to hang it up either. He knew that if he did, Rose wouldn't stop calling until he showed up at her place. Or worse, she'd come over to his. Either way he knew he had to see his mother today. He got up out of bed and threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and his black boots. He grabbed his NYPD baseball hat, slammed it on his head and wrote Faith a note. He grabbed his keys and slammed the door.
As he started his Mustang he saw Faith through the rear-view mirror walking into their building with coffee. Coffee sounded real good to him at that moment but he knew he didn't have time to talk to Faith. He would see her soon enough. He backed the car out and put it into first. There were many things he wanted to do on his day off, like spend time with her and do much more productive things...but he reminded himself that that was how he got into this situation in the first place.
"DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT"! he yelled as he drove to Rose's. It was gonna be a great day.
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Rose Boscorelli's apartment
Rose looked out the kitchen window to see her eldest son getting out of his car. He looked very tired and very grouchy. Well, he was gonna have somethin' to groan about when she was done with him! She was so disapointed. This was the kind of behaviour she expected from Mikey, but not Maurice.
Sure, Maurice had done his share of running around, but he had never gotten anyone pregnant! He was with Faith now, yes, but she wondered how he could just abandon his child like that. Imagine, him telling Alicia to get an abortion! Her grandchild! Over her dead body!
She was fuming by the time he knocked on her front door. It didn't help that she was almost three sheets to the wind. Stress usually did that to her. When stress hit, she drank. It was as simple as that. Now, if she were to tell the truth, she'd say that she spent pretty much all of her time drunk...but she had a very stressful life, didn't she? An ex-husband who was abusive, a drug dealing son and now, another son who would actually suggest that his first child be aborted in some back woods clinic! Ohhhh, was he gonna get it!
Rose opened the front door and immediately gave Bosco a hard slap to the face.
" Ma, what the hell's wrong with you" he shouted, rubbing his red cheek.
"What's wrong with ME? What is wrong with ME?" she pointed to herself. " No, I'd say 'what's wrong with YOU', Maurice"! " How could you treat the mother of your unborn child that way, huh"? she was yelling really loud now.
Bosco pushed past her and walked into the house and headed strait for the kitchen, Rose following at his heels, cursing and yelling at him. He went strait for the liquor cabinet, taking out a bottle of Johnny Walker and poured himself a small glass. He gulped it down in seconds and started to fill another. Rose leaned against the doorway, her eyes burning into him, accusingly.
" Alright Maurice, tell me why you acted this way. Alicia came to see me last night and told me what you suggested. Why, I never.....".
" Ma! I am going to tell you this ONE time" he spat, pointing his finger at her. " She had NO business coming to you! NONE! That was MY business to dispense on MY own time. I don't want you talking to her about me again! Do you HEAR me"? He slapped his hand down on the counter for emphasis.
He was really wild at her. She was HIS mother. She needed to support HIM, not some nutjob like Alicia. Truthfully, he was hurt. He was hurt that she slapped him, that she would talk to someone else about him. It felt like a betrayal.
Rose took a step toward him, shaking her head. " Don't you EVER tell me who I can or cannot speak to, Maurice! I stopped taking orders from your father years ago, and I'm sure as hell not starting to take them from you"! she hissed at him.
" Now I want to know how you could suggest what you did? Faith's kids died in a fire eight months ago...."
Bosco interrupted, shouting at her " What does Emily and Charlie have to do with anything"?
Rose kept right on talking, " ....and you have the nerve to suggest an abortion! Shame on you, Maurice! Shame......"
Bosco thought he had heard wrong. Did she say 'abortion'? "Faith never had any abortion, Ma. What the hell are you talking about? Were you drinking moonshine again? I tole' ya not to do that. You're talking all crazy. I....."
" I'm talking about you telling Alicia that she had to have an abortion and that she could pay for it herself. I'm talking about......"
Bosco stood there, unable to articulate anything resembling words. His mouth hung open. He was in complete shock. Rose stopped talking, thrown off by Bosco's sudden change in behaviour. She sensed that he was about to go into a rage. His face had turned beet red and his eyes were wild with anger.
" I NEVER SAID ANYTHING LIKE THAT" he sreamed, livid at the suggestion that he would tell her to have an abortion. He picked up the bottle of Johnny Walker and threw it against the wall, smashing it to bits. " That b***H! That b***h! Just wait until I get a hold of her! If I have to drag her here to tell you the truth, I will"!
" Maurice, baby. Calm down. I'm sorry I upset you". She walked over to the table and pulled out a chair for him and one for herself. She knew she had to calm him down NOW, before he completely lost it. The last time she had seen him this mad was when his father had come home drunk and was beating her up. Maurice had come along just as it was happening. He had nearly killed his father that night. It took three other cops to pull him off of Raymond, but not before Maurice had broken his nose and two ribs. Raymond never touched Rose again.
He was shaking, he was so angry. His breaths were uneven and he was grinding his teeth. Rose sensed that there was more to this story than she had heard.
" Maurice, talk to me. Tell me what happened with her". Rose said calmly. She had dropped her tone down considerably, given his current demeanor.
" I told her that I would pay for the doctor's bills and that after the baby was born that we'd discuss child support and visitation. I NEVER told her to have an abortion! She's crazy, ma. C-R-A-Z-Y! She said that you told her that we should get married and........".
Rose put her hand over her mouth and shook her head slowly. " I never said that Maurice. I would never say something like that. I love you and Faith together. It isn't my business to tell you to marry anyone".
Bosco narrowed his eyes and looked at her scepticaly, " Oh, it's not your business to tell me who to marry, but it is your business to call me and demand for me to come over here and to hit me in the face"?
" Oh, Maurice, I'm so sorry". Rose said, reaching over to hold his hands in hers, "Baby, listen to me. She came into the bar last night. Cryin' about how you told her to have an abortion and that you called her a slut and a tramp. She told me that she told you months ago about the baby and that you told her it wasn't yours. I was upset because she was obviously pregnant. I mean, I saw her at the bar different times and she never told me that it was yours. I didn't know that you had hooked up with her". Rose began to cry, feeling very guilty for taking someone else's side before talking to her own son.
Bosco felt bad for yelling at her. He was taking out his frustration on his mother. What kind of a jerk was he anyway?
His anger now in check, he leaned over the table and gave her an awkward hug. " It's ok ma. I'm sorry too. I never should have taken this out on you. But she is lying to you. I didn't know about the baby until a few days ago. She never told me anything".
Rose broke the hug and stood up to grab a kleenex. She blew her nose and went to the liquor cabinit, bringing out a new bottle of Johnny Walker. She grabbed a glass for herself and sat back down. She poured herself a drink and one for him. " What is the point of her lying to me, then" she wondered.
"Ma, there is something wrong with her...I mean, REALLY wrong". he said emphatically. " You should have seen the way she treated Faith. It was like she wasn't even there. I told her that nothing would happen between us and she didn't even acknowledge it. It's like she really believes that we will end up together. What am I going to do, ma"? he said, putting his head in his hands.
Rose looked over at him, this time with a sympathetic look on her face. " You do the right thing, Maurice. You stick by her and you help her through this. No matter what the circumstances, she is carrying your son". She leaned forward and ran her hand through his hair.
"Do you remember when you were a little boy and we would have our little talks"? she asked, a faint smile on her face.
He grinned at her. " Ya. I was such a dork, huh"?
She swatted his arm playfully. " No, you were very perceptive, Maurice. You knew more than you should have at the age of ten. Do you remember what you said to me about parenting". He nodded.
Her eyes welled up with tears. " You said to me that no matter what ever happened in your life, that you were gonna be a better father than Raymond was. That you were always gonna be there for your kids and that you would never turn your back on them the way he did to you and Mikey".
She put her head down so he wouldn't see the tears escaping from her eyes. Then she looked back up at him as they fell down and took his hand, covering it with both of hers. " Well, now is the time for you to step up and be there for your son. I know that you'll be a better father than Raymond was. You have a great big heart, Maurice. And I know that you'll do the right thing. Faith loves you. She'll stand by you, no matter how crazy Alicia is. You two are unbeatable. Together, you'll find the strength to battle this. And you'll be getting a wonderful reward. A son. You can right the wrongs that were done to you. Your son will be your reason to live".
" And besides" she smiled widly, " No one is gonna rob me of having a grandson to spoil".
Bosco had to resist the urge to cry. He remembered that conversation well. It had been after Raymond had beat up his mother. Again. He was sitting in the same spot that he was in now, telling his mother how he would be a better father than Ray was. It wouldn't be hard. Ray wasn't a decent man or father. Hell, he wasn't a decent human being. But Bosco knew that it was time to be a man. The kind of man that didn't walk away from his kids or beat them or call them terrible names. He was gonna do this right. He had to. His son depended on it.
Bosco stood up and motioned for Rose to do the same. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. " Thanks ma. I really needed to hear that".
He cleared his throat and picked up his hat off the table. " I gotta go see Faith. We have to sit down and talk about some stuff. But you an' me, we'll talk again soon, okay"? he said softly.
She nodded and picked up the glasses they had been using and brought them to the sink. She watched him walk outside and get into his car. He waved as he pulled away.
Bosco felt much better that he had talked to Rose. He felt a little guilty about yelling and smashing the bottle and everything, but he knew that Rose had forgiven him. It was like that between them. They might not have said how they felt all the time, or even most of the time, but every once in a while they had these great talks. One thing was clear to him as he drove home. He was never so sure of anything in all his life. He was going to ask Faith to marry him.
TBC
The Only One: Chapter 8
Bosco woke up to an empty apartment and a phone that was ringing off the hook. He cursed loudly as he crawled over the blankets to reach the phone on the floor beside the bed. His hair was on end and his face was beginning to look scruffy. He needed a shower and a shave.
He reached the phone and yanked it off the hook. " What"! he shouted, in true Bosco style.
" Maurice! This is your mother"! Rose said angrily. " Get over here right now! Do you hear me? Right now"! and with that she hung up.
" DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT" Bosco yelled into the phone, before throwing it on the floor. He didn't bother to hang it up either. He knew that if he did, Rose wouldn't stop calling until he showed up at her place. Or worse, she'd come over to his. Either way he knew he had to see his mother today. He got up out of bed and threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and his black boots. He grabbed his NYPD baseball hat, slammed it on his head and wrote Faith a note. He grabbed his keys and slammed the door.
As he started his Mustang he saw Faith through the rear-view mirror walking into their building with coffee. Coffee sounded real good to him at that moment but he knew he didn't have time to talk to Faith. He would see her soon enough. He backed the car out and put it into first. There were many things he wanted to do on his day off, like spend time with her and do much more productive things...but he reminded himself that that was how he got into this situation in the first place.
"DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT"! he yelled as he drove to Rose's. It was gonna be a great day.
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Rose Boscorelli's apartment
Rose looked out the kitchen window to see her eldest son getting out of his car. He looked very tired and very grouchy. Well, he was gonna have somethin' to groan about when she was done with him! She was so disapointed. This was the kind of behaviour she expected from Mikey, but not Maurice.
Sure, Maurice had done his share of running around, but he had never gotten anyone pregnant! He was with Faith now, yes, but she wondered how he could just abandon his child like that. Imagine, him telling Alicia to get an abortion! Her grandchild! Over her dead body!
She was fuming by the time he knocked on her front door. It didn't help that she was almost three sheets to the wind. Stress usually did that to her. When stress hit, she drank. It was as simple as that. Now, if she were to tell the truth, she'd say that she spent pretty much all of her time drunk...but she had a very stressful life, didn't she? An ex-husband who was abusive, a drug dealing son and now, another son who would actually suggest that his first child be aborted in some back woods clinic! Ohhhh, was he gonna get it!
Rose opened the front door and immediately gave Bosco a hard slap to the face.
" Ma, what the hell's wrong with you" he shouted, rubbing his red cheek.
"What's wrong with ME? What is wrong with ME?" she pointed to herself. " No, I'd say 'what's wrong with YOU', Maurice"! " How could you treat the mother of your unborn child that way, huh"? she was yelling really loud now.
Bosco pushed past her and walked into the house and headed strait for the kitchen, Rose following at his heels, cursing and yelling at him. He went strait for the liquor cabinet, taking out a bottle of Johnny Walker and poured himself a small glass. He gulped it down in seconds and started to fill another. Rose leaned against the doorway, her eyes burning into him, accusingly.
" Alright Maurice, tell me why you acted this way. Alicia came to see me last night and told me what you suggested. Why, I never.....".
" Ma! I am going to tell you this ONE time" he spat, pointing his finger at her. " She had NO business coming to you! NONE! That was MY business to dispense on MY own time. I don't want you talking to her about me again! Do you HEAR me"? He slapped his hand down on the counter for emphasis.
He was really wild at her. She was HIS mother. She needed to support HIM, not some nutjob like Alicia. Truthfully, he was hurt. He was hurt that she slapped him, that she would talk to someone else about him. It felt like a betrayal.
Rose took a step toward him, shaking her head. " Don't you EVER tell me who I can or cannot speak to, Maurice! I stopped taking orders from your father years ago, and I'm sure as hell not starting to take them from you"! she hissed at him.
" Now I want to know how you could suggest what you did? Faith's kids died in a fire eight months ago...."
Bosco interrupted, shouting at her " What does Emily and Charlie have to do with anything"?
Rose kept right on talking, " ....and you have the nerve to suggest an abortion! Shame on you, Maurice! Shame......"
Bosco thought he had heard wrong. Did she say 'abortion'? "Faith never had any abortion, Ma. What the hell are you talking about? Were you drinking moonshine again? I tole' ya not to do that. You're talking all crazy. I....."
" I'm talking about you telling Alicia that she had to have an abortion and that she could pay for it herself. I'm talking about......"
Bosco stood there, unable to articulate anything resembling words. His mouth hung open. He was in complete shock. Rose stopped talking, thrown off by Bosco's sudden change in behaviour. She sensed that he was about to go into a rage. His face had turned beet red and his eyes were wild with anger.
" I NEVER SAID ANYTHING LIKE THAT" he sreamed, livid at the suggestion that he would tell her to have an abortion. He picked up the bottle of Johnny Walker and threw it against the wall, smashing it to bits. " That b***H! That b***h! Just wait until I get a hold of her! If I have to drag her here to tell you the truth, I will"!
" Maurice, baby. Calm down. I'm sorry I upset you". She walked over to the table and pulled out a chair for him and one for herself. She knew she had to calm him down NOW, before he completely lost it. The last time she had seen him this mad was when his father had come home drunk and was beating her up. Maurice had come along just as it was happening. He had nearly killed his father that night. It took three other cops to pull him off of Raymond, but not before Maurice had broken his nose and two ribs. Raymond never touched Rose again.
He was shaking, he was so angry. His breaths were uneven and he was grinding his teeth. Rose sensed that there was more to this story than she had heard.
" Maurice, talk to me. Tell me what happened with her". Rose said calmly. She had dropped her tone down considerably, given his current demeanor.
" I told her that I would pay for the doctor's bills and that after the baby was born that we'd discuss child support and visitation. I NEVER told her to have an abortion! She's crazy, ma. C-R-A-Z-Y! She said that you told her that we should get married and........".
Rose put her hand over her mouth and shook her head slowly. " I never said that Maurice. I would never say something like that. I love you and Faith together. It isn't my business to tell you to marry anyone".
Bosco narrowed his eyes and looked at her scepticaly, " Oh, it's not your business to tell me who to marry, but it is your business to call me and demand for me to come over here and to hit me in the face"?
" Oh, Maurice, I'm so sorry". Rose said, reaching over to hold his hands in hers, "Baby, listen to me. She came into the bar last night. Cryin' about how you told her to have an abortion and that you called her a slut and a tramp. She told me that she told you months ago about the baby and that you told her it wasn't yours. I was upset because she was obviously pregnant. I mean, I saw her at the bar different times and she never told me that it was yours. I didn't know that you had hooked up with her". Rose began to cry, feeling very guilty for taking someone else's side before talking to her own son.
Bosco felt bad for yelling at her. He was taking out his frustration on his mother. What kind of a jerk was he anyway?
His anger now in check, he leaned over the table and gave her an awkward hug. " It's ok ma. I'm sorry too. I never should have taken this out on you. But she is lying to you. I didn't know about the baby until a few days ago. She never told me anything".
Rose broke the hug and stood up to grab a kleenex. She blew her nose and went to the liquor cabinit, bringing out a new bottle of Johnny Walker. She grabbed a glass for herself and sat back down. She poured herself a drink and one for him. " What is the point of her lying to me, then" she wondered.
"Ma, there is something wrong with her...I mean, REALLY wrong". he said emphatically. " You should have seen the way she treated Faith. It was like she wasn't even there. I told her that nothing would happen between us and she didn't even acknowledge it. It's like she really believes that we will end up together. What am I going to do, ma"? he said, putting his head in his hands.
Rose looked over at him, this time with a sympathetic look on her face. " You do the right thing, Maurice. You stick by her and you help her through this. No matter what the circumstances, she is carrying your son". She leaned forward and ran her hand through his hair.
"Do you remember when you were a little boy and we would have our little talks"? she asked, a faint smile on her face.
He grinned at her. " Ya. I was such a dork, huh"?
She swatted his arm playfully. " No, you were very perceptive, Maurice. You knew more than you should have at the age of ten. Do you remember what you said to me about parenting". He nodded.
Her eyes welled up with tears. " You said to me that no matter what ever happened in your life, that you were gonna be a better father than Raymond was. That you were always gonna be there for your kids and that you would never turn your back on them the way he did to you and Mikey".
She put her head down so he wouldn't see the tears escaping from her eyes. Then she looked back up at him as they fell down and took his hand, covering it with both of hers. " Well, now is the time for you to step up and be there for your son. I know that you'll be a better father than Raymond was. You have a great big heart, Maurice. And I know that you'll do the right thing. Faith loves you. She'll stand by you, no matter how crazy Alicia is. You two are unbeatable. Together, you'll find the strength to battle this. And you'll be getting a wonderful reward. A son. You can right the wrongs that were done to you. Your son will be your reason to live".
" And besides" she smiled widly, " No one is gonna rob me of having a grandson to spoil".
Bosco had to resist the urge to cry. He remembered that conversation well. It had been after Raymond had beat up his mother. Again. He was sitting in the same spot that he was in now, telling his mother how he would be a better father than Ray was. It wouldn't be hard. Ray wasn't a decent man or father. Hell, he wasn't a decent human being. But Bosco knew that it was time to be a man. The kind of man that didn't walk away from his kids or beat them or call them terrible names. He was gonna do this right. He had to. His son depended on it.
Bosco stood up and motioned for Rose to do the same. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. " Thanks ma. I really needed to hear that".
He cleared his throat and picked up his hat off the table. " I gotta go see Faith. We have to sit down and talk about some stuff. But you an' me, we'll talk again soon, okay"? he said softly.
She nodded and picked up the glasses they had been using and brought them to the sink. She watched him walk outside and get into his car. He waved as he pulled away.
Bosco felt much better that he had talked to Rose. He felt a little guilty about yelling and smashing the bottle and everything, but he knew that Rose had forgiven him. It was like that between them. They might not have said how they felt all the time, or even most of the time, but every once in a while they had these great talks. One thing was clear to him as he drove home. He was never so sure of anything in all his life. He was going to ask Faith to marry him.
TBC