Author's Note: This is dedicated to Kristen, aka TW Basketcase. I hear you loud and clear. I'm still shocked over the finale. I was really hoping that Faith and Bosco would get together after all they've been through...but we all know what a nasty character Faith turned out to be and I'm so upset and saddened by the way the writers tore apart that sacred bond that they had. Could there really be another woman out there that knows Bosco more than Faith? Could there be a woman who could tame him the way she can? I doubt it. And so, it is left up to us, the faithful readers, to continue on with the story and make it into our own thoughts and dreams for the characters that we have grown to love in the past six years. Third Watch will go on; if only in our imaginations. Enjoy.

My Son's Son

After the horrible morning we had with Ty I was thankful to see Bosco get into our Mustang and drive him the hell home. I know it was harsh but in the past few months Ty had become a person that I really didn't want to be around. Yes, we had years of friendship and good times but they had been replaced by death and sadness; jealousy and bitter tears, and I didn't know how much more I could take.

I watched them pull out of the driveway from inside the front door. I held Davis in my arms as I pondered just where we were going from here. The questions were swirling around my mind like snowflakes during a wind-ridden storm. Over and over I thought about Sasha and how much I missed her; I wondered how we were going to raise this baby without an all-out battle between the grandparents, but most of all I wondered how my second son was going to react when he found out that his son was going to be raised by his mother and father; two people with which he had a very shaky relationship with at the moment. Davis stirred in my arms and opened his blue eyes and bawled his tiny fists in the air before letting out a howl of hunger and distress.

"I hear you buddy. Loud and clear." I murmured as I turned and made my way back to the kitchen to prepare him a bottle.

It took Bosco about a half an hour to drive Ty home and then get back to our house. It was about one-thirty when he pulled into the drive. I watched him from the kitchen window and saw the slow way he walked, his shoulders pulled down into a slump. From his body language I figured that the drive hadn't gone well. I set a plate on the table with all of the things I thought he would like and waited for him to come inside. I sat down and finished giving Davis his bottle.

I heard the front door open and close and the soft thud of his sneakers on the hard wood floor. The closer he got the more nervous I became. I didn't know why, I just really wasn't anxious to hear what ever else Ty had to say.

He rounded the corner, his hands shoved deep into the pocket of his jeans and he sighed upon seeing me.

"That bad?' I asked, glancing up at him.

He shook his head and let out another sigh. " You know, I thought that it would be a good idea for him to come over here and see the baby but it just seemed to get him even more worked up."

I bit down on my lower lip as he came and sat across from me. "What else did he say, or do I not want to know?"

He sprinkled some salt and pepper on his tomato's and potato salad without replying.

"Bos?"

"Faith– he was really–" He paused for a moment trying to find the right words. He coked his head to the side, considering what he'd say. "He was really nasty. It doesn't matter what he said. He was just drunk anyway."

He pushed his food around the plate as I stared at him. I knew how much it was taking out of him, being treated like that by his best friend. It hurt me, as it hurt him. Inwardly, I cried for all that we had been, the four of us, and now the three of us. Damn him.

"Well, I won't pressure you." I said softly as I picked Davis up and propped him over my shoulder to give him a burp. I gently patted his shoulder blades hoping that he would burp and get it over with. He was a hard kid to get a burp out of.

"Thanks."

"So Mikey's coming over about four and we didn't eat any of this lunch so I figure that we'll just save it for supper."

"Sounds good to me. I'm not hungry anyway." He said.

"Bos–"

"Please, Faith. I don't want to talk about it right now." He said in a weary voice that he reserved for when he really meant that he didn't want to discuss it. He set his fork down and rubbed his hand over his jaw. "Let me take him for a while. You go and rest or– just do something for yourself."

"I'm okay." I said, not wanting to throw anything else on him at the moment.

"I know—I just want to take him for a walk or something—give you some time to yourself." He said, getting up and coming around the table to me. Without a word I handed Davis over to him and he resumed trying to burp him while I started to clear the table.

The afternoon sped by and before I knew it, it was almost four o'clock. I didn't have any other preparations to make for the meal, so I sat down on our sectional sofa in the livingroom to wait for my son to arrive. I thought about the conversation I had had with Emma about an hour earlier.

She had called to tell me that both her and Rob had a week's vacation and they were taking Little Faith to Disney World to see Mickey Mouse. She called from the airport and when she heard the worry and distraction in my voice, immediately demanded to know what was wrong. I didn't see the point in lying to her or keeping it from her. The easiest thing to do was to tell her the truth, which I did.

She was floored, to say the least. She had been waiting for the news for days, knowing that Carly was due around that time. She was angry and hurt that we hadn't told her sooner. I tried to explain that her father and I wanted Mike to see the baby before we told anyone else. She pouted, exclaiming that she wasn't just 'anyone else'. I thought she was going to hang up on me, but she didn't.

She then told me that part of the reason she was calling was to let us know that she and Rob had found a pre-school in the city that they had enrolled Little Faith in and that we wouldn't need to be babysitting anymore during the week. I was shocked, but realized that it was probably her way of punishing us for keeping secrets from her and for not including her in everything that had gone on. She wanted to know if we planned on raising Davis ourselves and then laughed when I told her we were.

"Sure. Faith to the rescue." Was her only comment.

Knowing that she was hurt, I didn't call her on it.

I felt a tiny bit guilty for not telling her about Arthur either, but we hadn't told anyone else and it really was our decision. She was going to be more angry when we told her about the Logan family but there was nothing I could do about it now. I thanked her for calling to let us know and wished her a wonderful trip.

It seemed that sadness had become my best friend, my one companion that never left my side, those days. I sat at my kitchen table for the longest time after I hung up, wondering if I had done the right thing by not telling her right away. I felt so much sadness for my family, for my children, it was almost to much. On the other hand, I had done what I had to do, both Bosco and myself. We didn't have to apologize for our actions.

Bosco and Davis were upstairs taking a nap when I heard the front door open and close.

"Ma? Dad? I'm here." Came Mikey's loud voice from the entryway.

I jumped off the couch and went out into the hall. He was just taking off his sneakers, balancing both of his arms against the door jamb and using one foot to ease off each of his shoes. He wore a pair of nice looking blue jeans and a gray NYPD sweatshirt and a blue New York Yankees baseball cap. He looked so much like his father had at that age. I could see Bosco all over again in those eyes and face, the shape of his body. He certainly was his father's son.

"Hi Mike. It's good to see you, son." I said as I walked toward him. He grinned at me and surprisingly, reached out to give me a hug. "Thanks for coming. We have some important stuff to talk about."

"You look good ma." He said kindly. "And how could I not come?"

When he pulled back I took a closer look at him. He had grown his hair out longer than he usually did, leaving it scruffy looking, but not so much so that the Lieu would make him get it cut. It had started to curl a bit at the ends and was half way down the base of his neck. His cheeks and face were healthy with a dark red tan. He looked well rested, more than the last time I had seen him, and he seemed happy and his beautiful eyes seemed to shine.

"So, did you see him?" He asked, smiling widely. He looked like quite the proud father. If I hadn't known what he had done in the last few months I might have even fell for it.

I pulled my head back, shocked. "Who?" I asked.

It wasn't possible that he already knew about Davis being home with us...or was it? Had my hunch been right all along, that he and Carly had still communicated? A sick feeling came to rest in my stomach as I looked suspiciously at my son.

"No, Ma..the baby... Didja see Davis? Carly told me you were coming to see him. Doesn't he look like her?" He asked.

I struggled to keep my face void of the shock and anger that was taking over me. He knew?

I stepped back and folded my arms over my breasts and looked crossly at him. "You knew? You knew we she was planning and you didn't say anything?" I growled.

He opened his mouth to speak, shock now registering in his face. "Ma—"

I pointed my finger at him. "You knew! How could not say anything?" I asked, my voice turning high and my eyes starting to water. "When your father called to tell you to come over you already knew what we wanted to talk to you about?"

"Ma—Carly told me–" He started.

"Carly told you what? To keep your mouth shut so that neither of you would have to take responsibility for the child you made?"

"What are you talking about ma? Just—" He sputtered, catching my anger. He narrowed his gaze and looked down at me, seemingly not understanding.

"Oh..what am I talking about? I'm talking about you and Carly and–" I stabbed at him.

"Me and Carly what? I didn't make any plans with Carly. I just went to Boston to be in the delivery room with her. It was the least I could do."

"Oh, sure!"

At that point Bosco came down the stairs. "Stop raising your voice!" He hissed at me.

"Dad–" Mikey began, looking to his father and raising his hands. "Dad–just let me explain."

"Michael—you bet your ass you'll explain—don't even worry about that." Bosco said dryly as he got to the bottom of the stairs and faced the two of us. "Now before we have another big fight, let's just go into the livingroom and talk calmly."

I opened my mouth to speak, as did Mikey but he put both of his hands in the air. "I don't want to hear it! You can yell in the livingroom as well as you can do it in the hall."

Mikey shot me a fierce look and marched down the hall in front of us. "Why don't you just ask Carly?"He asked, looking back at us.

"Michael, just go sit down."Bosco said crossly as we all entered the livingroom. Mike sat down in the rocker and Bosco and I both took the couch.

The one thing I could always count on was getting in a fight with him in about ten seconds flat. It was that way with all of my children. Both Bosco and I had tempers, as did all of our children. It just seemed sad that we could never stay calm at all.

"Michael, we wanted you to come over here today so we could discuss the baby and so that we could settle a few things." Bosco began, sitting forward, clasping his hands together.

Mikey leaned forward and gave his father a hurt look. "I know that. What I don't understand is why I get the damn third degree when I walk through the door." He said, shooting another look in my direction.

I tucked my legs up under my self and shook my head. "You don't understand? What did you think we were going to do? Congratulate you on abandoning your son?"

"Abandoning my son? What are you talking about?"

"Mike, don't act like you don't know what the hell is going on. You were there for his birth. You and Carly obviously kept in contact through the last few months. I don't see why we're re-hashing this subject." Bosco said, trying to keep himself calm.

He sat forward and gave both of us a helpless look. "I was there..yes...but I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't abandon him."

I scoffed and shook my head. "Well, whatever you want to call it...the fact remains that we want to know what your intentions are, or if you have any at all." I snapped.

" Why?" He demanded. "And what about my intentions? For what?" He asked angrily. "I'm not going to try and have any relationship with Carly, if that's what you're getting at."

"Mike...don't do this. Your mother and I have taken on a huge responsibility and you owe us the decency to tell us if you want any kind of relationship with him before we go to court." Bosco said.

"Court? What are you talking about?" He said in frustration. He leaned forward and clasped his hands, mirroring his father. " Look, I'll admit that I was a first class asshole to Carly, but we talked about it and I told her that I'd give her four hundred dollars a month to look after him. I know it took me a while–" He said, looking from one of us to the other. "But at least I came around. I'm taking responsibility for him."

Bosco looked over at me and gave me a questioning look. This was news to us. Carly hadn't mentioned a word about Mikey giving her any money to look after his son. It was clear to me that we were the one's in the dark in this situation.

"You told her you'd support him?" I asked, not understanding why she would want him to agree to give her money when we were raising the child.

"Yes! We talked about it at the hospital." He said earnestly, searching our faces to see if we believed him. " I told her I'd give her money, anything she wanted. I felt bad...for...for everything." He said, looking down at the floor now, ashamed. " I know I ruined everything with my own brother...I ruined our relationship and I can't take that back. But I honestly want to do the right thing for the baby. I swear I do." He said, looking back up at us. "I already signed my rights away for the child I'd made with Cath and I didn't want to do it again...I couldn't do it again."

Bosco stood up and walked over to the window and didn't respond. I sat back, stunned. I didn't even know where to begin; what questions to ask. I was terribly afraid that Carly had pulled one on him as well as us.

"So, she wanted you to pay child support?" I asked.

"I offered and she accepted. She also agreed to let me have him every second weekend and one night through the week, since she's gonna be living with Ty again. I jus figured that since I'm the kid's father, I should own up to the responsibility."

"What!" Bosco shouted, still looking out the window.

Living with Ty? Just what other lies had Carly Davis concocted? Had she lead my son to believe that she was keeping this child? Had she told him that she would actually leave Brett and her shop and just come back here so that he could see the child that he hadn't shown any interest in since the time he found out about her pregnancy? I seriously doubted it.

"What? I thought you'd be happy...I already have a nursery set up for him at my apartment..." He said, not understand just how much of a fool he'd been taken for. It made me sick. It made my blood start to boil. Was there no limit to how far or low that Carly would sink?

What I couldn't understand was why, for the life of him, my son was wanting to lay claim on a child that had almost broken up a marriage and ruined a brotherly relationship? A child that he had said might not even be his? After the way he had treated Carly at her mother's funeral? I couldn't wrap my head around it. If it was true...if...I would be happy and do all I could to see that Mikey took responsibility for his son...but there had to be more to it. There just had to be.

"Mike, what, exactly, did Carly tell you that she was going to do with this baby?" I asked slowly.

"What? Why don't you ask her yourself?" He said, growing more frustrated and confused with each minute that passed. "Isn't she at her father's house? Just call her and tell her to come over." He said.

Bosco turned around, concern for our son growing by the second. "What are you talking about? She's not at Ty's house."

Mikey exhaled his breath and threw up his hands in the air. "Well...do you know where she is, then?" He turned to look at his father. "I'm tellin you that I'm takin responsibility for him...I swear it!"

I groaned. He really had no idea what was happening. He was a victim, not the same way we were, but a victim just the same. He had come clean to us, accepted his responsibility and he had come to his senses and decided to support his son, only he had been deceived and lied to. I don't know why I was surprised. At this point, we couldn't be sure of anything.

"Mike, I want to know why you have such an interest in this child. Why now? Why not months ago?" I asked.

He looked away for a moment and bit down on his lower lip, a trait that he had inherited from me.

"Because I thought it was the right thing to do." He said softly.

"Now? Now it was the right thing to do? After the way you treated her for so long? Why now?" I pursued.

"Because...I...I..." He stumbled over his words and then sighed. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try us. We can only understand if you tell us what's going on." Bosco said.

"Dad...I know you won't."

"Michael, we love you and we are happy about you wanting to see your son, but it's a drastically different attitude than you had for the last few months. There's something you're not telling us." Bosco continued. "And we have the right to know. We are putting our lives on hold for you. We've been lied to and treated like shit and we're tired of it. Damn sick and tired. So spill." Bosco warned.

"I'm telling you that you don't want to hear what I have to say. You won't see what I see and you won't believe it even if I tell you, so why don't you just let it be?"

"That's enough!" I yelled, terribly frustrated with the run-around. "Cut the shit, Michael Maurice! Did your hear your father—"

"Because I'm in love with her!" He yelled back.

I almost choked on my own tongue. In love with Carly? How much more messed up could this get?

"In love with her? How can that be? How can–"

"Ma–just listen." He cut in with a brief wave of his hand. "I've been in love with her for years. Ever since I was a kid. But Brett had to have her. He had to take her away to Boston to follow him and his own dreams. I love her–yes. I hate her too. And the only thing that I have left of her is my son. I know it came too late. I know I made mistakes but this child is mine and I want her to know that I love him."

"What about Carmelle?" Bosco asked grimly. "You said that you were thinking about proposing to her. What happened to that?"

"She broke up with me a few days ago. She knew that I loved someone else. Everyone thought it was Cath that I loved...when it wasn't. It was Carly all along." He replied. "I loved her for years and someday I'm gonna tell her, too. I'm not the only one who can have a relationship, you know." He said, directing the comment to me. "Brett treated her like shit and you never even knew. But I knew." He said, poking himself in the chest. "I knew. And that night, she confessed everything to me and I made her feel better. I made love to her...and she wanted me. She wanted me. She just changed her mind after it was over. She was afraid of Brett. And I made her feel better."

"Oh, Michael..." I said, my voice breaking. "There's so much that you don't know.." I buried my face in my hands. Bosco came over to me and sat down, putting his arm around me.

"What?" Mikey, asked, now sounding afraid. "Is something wrong? What's going on?"

"Mike...we have something to tell you." Bosco began. "Something that we thought you knew, but I guess she fooled you too."

"Fooled me? What the hell are you trying to tell me!" He roared, all control gone. He stood up and put his hands on his hips and glared at the two of us, who were trying to have one more second, trying to find the courage to tell him what Carly had done. His eyes were now wild looking, the cords in his neck were straining, the blue green veins prominent.

"She didn't move back to New York, Mike—" Bosco began in a tight voice.

"What?" He yelled. "She told me that I'd get him every second weekend! What am I supposed to do? Fly up there? Does she have any idea how much that shit costs?"

Bosco cleared his throat. "No, son. Carly and Brett flew to Japan a few days ago. They left Davis at the hospital." He said slowly.

Mikey stumbled backwards and sank down into the rocker. "What?" He asked, this time more softly, a kind of defeat creeping into his voice. "She left him there? They went to Japan? Oh, dammit, just tell me what the hell is going on and where my son is."

I nodded, trying to swallow the lump in my throat that threatened to choke me. "Mike, I flew out there to see her—"

"I know! She told me you were coming to see her and the baby..she told me that you wanted to be there to help her out and stuff...since Sasha was...gone."

Liar!

"Mike, I went there under the impression that he hadn't been born yet but when I arrived I found out that he'd already arrived. Carly told me that you'd given up your rights to him–"

He raised his hand. "That's not true!" He yelled again. "She put my name on the birth certificate! She told me!"

I groaned again. "Honey, she didn't. She left him. She signed away her rights and she walked out the door and hopped on a plane with your brother and they aren't coming back."

"So he's gone? My son is gone! That bitch! I'll kill her myself!" He yelled, pounding his fist on his thigh.

Bosco left the room shaking his head. I suspected that he was close to tears. I got off the couch and went to embrace my son, but he lunged out of the chair and began to pace the room like a panther about to draw blood, Carly's blood. "She told me that I could see him...she told me that I had to be his father...she already took eight hundred dollars from me!"

"She what?"

"She took money from me for baby supplies and shit...she lied to me! Now I'll never get to see my son! "

"Mike, listen to me. I didn't tell you what happened..." I began, trying to calm him down.

He stopped dead in his tracks, remembering what I'd said at the first of the conversation. His eyes widened with the realization. "Ma...what you said back there...about her planning something...do you know where he is?"

As if on cue, Bosco came striding through the door with little Davis in his arms. I tapped Mikey on the shoulder and he turned around to see his father standing with his son.

"Ohhhh..." He breathed, what I thought, was a sigh of relief. And for the first time in years, I saw my second son break down and cry as he reached out to take his newborn baby from the arms of his father. He held him close and kissed his tiny head, tears now coming down and dripping into the baby's hair. He looked up at me, genuine love and gratitude on his face. It had been so long since I saw anything resembling real love directed at me from him. "Thank you...thank you."

I began to cry along with him and walked over and rubbed Mikey on the back, feeling at that moment that everything was going to work out just fine. Bosco came around and hugged me from behind and whispered in my ear.

"It's about time we had a happy ending."