A/N: AH! I look back now at chapter 2 and feel so ashamed. I just threw all this information at you without any pacing and I'm SO SORRY! All my hopes for control, squashed into dust. -hangs head-
I will try harder! I MUST do better! –sobs-
I just have all this information that I have to fit in because I don't like to break up the chapters and... and... I'm running out of excuses. Just try and get used to it?
xoxoxo
Dana: Thank you so much for the flattering compliments. I get nervous over my pacing and style because that's what people usually say needs work. My content has never really come under fire yet, so that's good. Angst smacked me around too much and too much sap is unrealistic, but I'm doing the best I can. Sorry! No Lemons. This is they'll kick me off T.T
Kitty in the Box: So glad you like the plot so far. I ABOSLUTELY HAD TO THROW THEM THIS CURVE BALL. This fic is going to be more of a mystery than the last one. Hopefully I can keep you guessing for awhile. YAY! And I'm not revealing anything yet. Just read and find out!
Calico Avangi: Yup thought so. I'm working on it. Really I am. But even God had to make the world in seven days. I'm learning as I go really. So new to the whole fic thing (writing not reading). Thank you! I hope this chapter is better.
Naiya Took: I can write quickly because I have an outline of everything I want to do already. I just gots to type it out. Thank you for saying my drama is not sucky. I sure thought it was. Yes, plot is twisted and grotesque involving more mystery and BABIES! I just HAD to add that.
Neko-Rinny: Yes, BABY! They're so much fun. And if you knew what was going on in my head, you'd be very surprised. Not even I know what's going on half the time... hehe. Anyways, I'm taking these fellas down a long hard path so stick with me!
Q-kitten: OOO! I'm so sorry about the height thing. I'm a cat person really so I don't know all that much about dogs. I just wanted to show growth, hopefully that didn't detract from the plot any. And I'm 5'1". My waist is actually the right size I think. -.-;;;
xoxoxo
Chapter 3:
"It's a baby."
"Yes, I can see it's a baby. WHOSE baby is it?" asked Commissioner Rose.
"That's... that's complicated..." responded JJ with a sheepish look.
An emergency meeting was being held in Rose's office to discuss the origins of THE baby. The officers had been unwilling to leave the small infant in the musty apartment, insisting that they look after it until its guardians made themselves known. Worst possible situation was that the child was Webber's and had just been made an orphan.
"I don't understand," said Ted in a confused manner, "You're saying that the two bodies were shot dead in the living room and there was a baby in the guest room?"
"Yes," sighed JJ, "We only heard it ten minutes or so after we found the corpses..."
"Shouldn't the kid have been crying?" Marty piped in, "According to CSI, the man and woman were shot only thirty minutes before you got there. Loud noises used to shake my son up all the time."
"Well, that's the least of our worries. Adams and Parker still don't know WHY the child was there at all. I checked the file myself, and there's no mention of a woman or a baby in connection to the case," declared Berkeley, taking off his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"She is really cute though..."
Every head in the room turned to face Ryo. In their curiosity about what had occurred just an hour before, the detectives had completely forgotten that the infant was still in the office room. Ryo however, had taken it upon himself to watch the child while the others discussed the turn of events. He was currently leaning over the basket with the back of his hand caressing her face. The empty space was quiet with disbelief at Ryo's statement.
"What?" questioned Dee.
"Um... she's a beautiful baby, I guess," Ryo repeated quietly.
"How do you know it's a girl?" queried Ted.
Ryo covered his mouth with his hand when he gave a small snigger, "Matter of observation. I don't know many male children who wear purple dresses."
All the men present took a few steps towards the wicker carrier to get a better look. Sure enough, the tiny girl was wearing a simple, lavender dress when they pulled back her checkered blanket. She wore no shoes or socks, just a run of the mill outfit and diaper. Now that Drake and JJ were giving the little lady their undivided attention, they noticed her diminutive features.
They slowly proceeded to memorize her black hair that sparsely covered her head and her intensely green eyes that stared back at them. Drake realized after a moment of déjà vu, that her almond shaped eyes held the rich color that reminded him of Dee. Her skin was a smooth eggshell color, that he found very innocent looking. I suppose she IS sort of sweet. Sad that she has to be in this situation.
JJ on the other hand was taking in how small and how uniquely proportioned she was. Kids had never been JJ's forte, simply because he hadn't been around them enough to become comfortable, so he was unfamiliar with their mannerisms. The size of her head compared to the rest of her body was what intrigued the sapphire eyed man the most. It just seemed so big. I wonder if all babies' heads are that size. I wonder if MY head was that size. Strange because it seems to suit her just fine...
Berkeley coughed to get the attention of the company back to him, "No matter how "cute" she may be, we've still got unanswered questions here. Focus people."
Grumbling back to their places and parking themselves in their respective seats they continued to bounce theories off each other. Every new idea seemed to be more unlikely as the last. After a while, they mutually decided that they would be able to conclude more sufficient hypotheses once the bodies, especially the woman's, were formally identified. Every sleeve in the office was rolled up, while one or two policemen fanned themselves with their clipboards. The heat was slowly toasting the area into a sauna.
Rose spoke over the conversing peers around five o'clock, "That's enough. I say we call it a day. We're going in circles with no real intelligent deductions being made."
A grateful agreement flowed through the room as they prepared to leave, filing away papers and throwing on suit coats.
"Hold up!" Dee commanded as he raised his hands in front of him, "What are we going to do about the kid?"
The commissioner huffed, "Give it to Minors. They will be able to do something with her."
"We can't," Ryo stated, "She's technically the only witness to the crime."
"Why does that make a difference?" asked Marty, "Minors is still part of the police department."
"True," answered Ryo, "But minors puts the children in foster homes, not take care of them themselves. We can't allow her to be placed with anyone until we contact her relatives or clear her from this mess."
"Point duly noted," exhaled Rose, "Well, the only choice we have is..."
"We'll baby-sit her for now," volunteered Ryo, receiving a weary look from Dee.
"That's not possible Ryo," Dee countered, "We've got Bikky's tournament this entire week, starting the day after tomorrow. We're going to be out of town for some time."
Ryo's eyes seemed to lose some of their previous sparkle and disappointment was clearly etched across his face, "Oh, yes, I forgot about that."
Concerned, Dee leaned over to whisper against his ear, "Hey, it's all right. I know you've got a weak spot for kids, but there will be other chances."
While Ryo nodded solemnly, Berkeley scanned the room for other possible caretakers.
"Fine, Ted the girl's yours."
"WHAT? You can't do that! I'm single remember! A baby is too hard for just one person."
Exasperated, Rose rolled his eyes, "You're dating Janet right?"
"We're not living together... unlike some of us," Ted shot back, pointedly staring at Drake and JJ.
JJ's eyes bulged as he waved both his hands frantically, "No no no. We're uh... we're-"
"Perfect," Rose cut in, letting a small grin grace his face, "That seems to work out just great. It's YOUR assignment anyways. I can see you as competent tag-team nannies."
"But, I don't know anything about kids!" JJ wailed softly.
Dee raised his arm to gesture at Drake's direction, "Your partner does. He used to live around his nephews in California."
JJ whirled around to stare dumbfounded at Drake. Yeah, he knew that Drake had family where he used to live, but he never really mentioned taking care of them before. Drake just shrugged helplessly. It had been many years since he'd last seen either of his two nephews. They rarely kept in touch anymore.
"Well... now that that's settled. See you bright and early tomorrow," beamed Rose as he whisked them out of the room.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Because neither Drake nor JJ had an extra car seat lying around at the station, they had to settle for one of them holding her securely in the back seat of the car. The ride home was eerily silent, not even the small girl made much noise at all. Immersed in his own thoughts, JJ's body drove the car on auto pilot.
Think positive, she won't be staying for long. Not long at all. Someone, somewhere must be related to her. This is only for safe custody and even if she has no adult guardians, Minors will be able to sort out a foster home once the case is solved. Stay optimistic! Pft, who am I fooling. I don't know what the hell to do. I'm an only child for Christ sakes.
So concentrated on his own apprehensions, he didn't pick up on Drake's silence as well. He had been clutching the infant carefully since they left the precinct, finding a position where she could rest against his chest.
Stop trembling! You're going to make her slip or something... Jeez, she's so small. Hasn't uttered a peep since we found her. Course, I'm not complaining, it could be worse. She could be colicky and then we would have had MAJOR problems. This is all right I guess. It's temporary so we can make a change here or there... sorry to see JJ so tense though... really must be hard on him.
"Pull over here JJ!" Drake ordered as he spotted a local Wal-Mart, "We're going to need a few basics before we head home."
"If you say so," answered JJ before he pulled into a parking space.
Twenty minutes later, they were on the road again. A bag of diapers, baby food, and a bunny suit bounced around in the trunk. That had been quite the experience. Drake received all sorts of suspicious stares when he had asked a middle aged woman to estimate how old their child was, for measuring purposes. Apparently adults were supposed to know the age of their charges. Choosing the items was another story altogether. JJ couldn't believe how many different brands of diapers they were and the fact that they didn't come in a 'one size fits all'. Luckily there were bags with a moderate amount of diapers for four month olds. For food, Drake had put his method in a phrase his sister used to use:
"It's always important for a child to have a little of each baby food group: white, red, orange, and green."
Drake's humble knowledge left JJ's in the dust, so he had held her while Drake shopped. Holding children wasn't too bad after he got used to carrying her around, light as a feather but too small it fit into any grocery cart.
Stay calm, one step at a time...
The trip from the local supermarket to their apartment was short. Thankfully so, because for the first time, the child was getting fussy. She squirmed around in Drake's arms, whimpering in protest, on the way up in the elevator. Furrowing his brow, he tried several other ways to restrain her flailing by switching grips. JJ could only look on helplessly and pat Drake's shoulder in comfort. It turned out to be the longest five minutes of their lives.
"Just put her down over there while I figure out where she's going to sleep," yawned JJ as he removed his shoes.
"She can't sleep in a bed JJ, she'll roll off," Drake added.
"Yeah, I guessed that," replied JJ, "I suppose the floor would be best for now. Oh hi sweetie, did Mrs. Henderson let you in early tonight?"
Eager to see what the new smells were, October had bounded off the couch to sit in front of Drake. Wagging her tail and panting at the unexpected guest.
"She can't sleep on the floor either. It's not safe because there is nothing to make sure she stays put. And now we've got October to think about," breathed Drake as he concentrated hard on a solution.
"If... if... we moved that there... and turned that around to face the window... laid out a couple of blankets... that might work," JJ said as he used his fingers to visualize the arrangement of furniture.
"I'm too exhausted to think. Just show me what to do," pleaded Drake.
It took both their collective strengths to push the various pieces of furniture into position. Huffing and puffing they looked over their work. The couch, ottoman, and loveseat were up against the nearby wall, making a closed off rectangle. The space inside on the floor seemed about enough space to let a baby sleep in. Blankets were placed on the carpet, before they settled her onto them.
"October will just... sleep in our... room tonight," wheezed JJ as he doubled over.
"Okay, that makes sense... we'll be fine until tomorrow... let's get some sleep," gasped Drake as he tried to catch his breath from the strenuous exercise.
Walking in a fog, they retreated to their room. Too worn-out to get fully undressed, they removed their ties and socks before slipping between the cool sheets. Before he closed his eyes, JJ caught a quick glimpse of his bedside clock, eleven thirty. What a day. Too much happened to even think about... I'll sort it out tomorrow...
A clumsy kiss was pressed against his cheek before he drifted off into blackness.
A/N: I tried to take it slower. TELL ME IF I IMPROVED OR NOT. I ONLY WRITE TO PLEASE YOU SO GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS AND I WILL DELIVER.
Kudos to all who review, you are my light at the end of the tunnel.