Thanks for all the positive reviews! I have to say I was quite surprised! I have only written TW and ER fics in the past. CI is a new passion for me. There will be a TW cameo!
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Bobby could not sleep. The image of that tiny girl, his granddaughter, in that huge hospital bed was too much for him. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Kaitlyn. Not just Vanessa's daughter, but his own. It had been so hard to get Caity, the thought that she could become sick… it was too much to even think about.
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The day that Ali had told him that they were pregnant had been so exciting and terrifying for him. Ali had carried her sister's son so easily, but they had suffered three miscarriages in the first two years of their marriage. They had gone through the drug therapy and exhausted all of their savings. Finally, defeated, they had put their names on an adoption list. Two weeks later Ali caught the flu, and could not shake the nausea. Bobby had insisted that she visit the doctor, he could not go with her as he had to be in court, but he left four messages on her cell that she was to call him the moment she was finished.
Her appointment had been for 11 and when he still had not heard from her at four he left the courthouse and had gone in search of his wife. He found her three blocks away, looking through a window at baby furniture.
"Bobby," she had said, "We need to do some redecorating."
She had thrown herself into his arms and he had held her close. Thoughts racing through his head. He did not think that either of them could suffer another miscarriage.
When it became clear that this baby was meant to be, he started to worry about what kind of genes he had passed on to it. Would it have schizophrenia? Would it have any other mental disorder? Both he and Alex were older, would this baby be affected in any other manner? He nearly drove himself crazy thinking about it, until the day that he had accompanied Alex to her doctor's appointment. He saw, for the first time, the tiny image on the screen. He heard the doctor proclaim it to be perfect. He looked down at Alex and back at the screen. Their baby was healthy. If it had any mental disorders, they would deal with it. All they could do was love it, and he did. They did.
The only issue that came up during Alex's pregnancy was if they should find out the gender. Alex did, Bobby did not. Alex wanted to know if they were having a boy. She desperately wanted to give Bobby a son. She had explained that if they had their son first then all the pressure would be off. They could then have five daughters and they would not have to keep trying for a boy. Bobby on the other hand wanted a daughter. He wanted a sweet little girl that looked just like Ali. He wanted to buy pink clothes and teddy bears. He wanted to watch ballet recitals and figure skating competitions. The baby was on its father's side and any time that the doctor tried to determine its sex, it positioned itself in such a manner that it was impossible to tell.
They made a deal. If the baby was girl Bobby could name her, with the stipulation that he did not call her Ethel or Bertha. If they had a son, Alex would name him. On the fourth day of May, Caitlin Alexis Goren joined her parents.
When the baby was four months old, they had a call from the Adoption agency. It was a very difficult decision, but they chose to let the baby go to another childless couple. They had their daughter, and if they never had another child, it would be okay.
Bobby had loved watching his baby grow and change. She was as cute as could be, but she was a stubborn little bunny. She would work at a problem until she had it solved. She had gone from a tiny infant to a miniature adult very quickly. Everyone at PPI was wrapped around her tiny finger and she liked it that way.
Now, unexpectedly, he had another family to worry about. He had a daughter from his first love. The moment that Vanessa had said that he might be her father, he knew, without a doubt that she was. He could understand why Alex was so concerned. He never accepted anything at face value; his nature was to question everything. It was what made him so proficient at his job. This, this he knew.
He had looked down at his tiny granddaughter, who looked so much like his own baby. Her skin was almost translucent. It looked so frail that he had been hesitant to touch her. She had flashed him a huge smile and held her tiny hand out to him. He sat on the bed and she had crawled into his lap and jabbered away.
Both he and Ali had gone downstairs to the lab and had blood drawn. They would not know the results until tomorrow.
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Bobby looked over at the red glow from the clock radio beside him…. Today.
"Bobby?" Ali's tired voice came through his thoughts.
"Hi," He whispered back. "You should be sleeping."
"So should you," she answered. "There is nothing you can do right now, and staying awake will not make anything better."
"I know," he said sitting up and sliding out of the bed.
"Where are you going?" Alex asked with a yawn and sat up as well."
I need to check on Caity," He said and padded out of the room and across the hall into the pink bedroom of his little girl.
He looked down at the sleeping child and pulled her blankets up closer around her. He bent down, rescued a pink teddy bear from the floor, and placed it beside her pillow.
"She's gorgeous," Alex whispered and slid her hand into his.
"Just like her mother," Bobby responded pulling Alex into his arms. "I want to help."
"I know," she said snuggling her face into his chest. "We will help. In whatever way that we can, we will. C'mon, its bedtime.
He followed her back to their bedroom and sat down on his side of the bed. She crawled across and wrapped her arms around him, kissing the side of his neck. He lay down next to his wife and let her snuggle into him. He turned his head toward the window and tried to get his brain to slow enough to sleep.
The call came at nine the next morning. Bobby was struggling with Caity, trying to get her into her overalls. He grabbed the telephone and listened as the doctor told him that he and Ali should come to the hospital right away. He had just hung up when the telephone rang again, this time it was Vanessa.
"Hi, did the hospital call you yet?" She asked breathlessly.
"I just hung up with them," Bobby said as he snagged a screaming Caitlin. "We will be at the hospital as soon as I can get Caitli dressed."
"Well, with a two year old, that could be anytime between now and next Tuesday!" Vanessa said with a laugh. "Lexie was bad enough to dress, Kaity… well she's a horse of a different colour! See you in a bit."
Alex was at the door of Caitlin's room by the time Bobby hung up. "Well?" She asked.
"We need to head to the hospital," Bobby said as he tossed the overalls aside and grabbed a little pink dress and pulled it over Caity's head. "Can you call Lizzy and find out if she can baby-sit."
Within an hour, Bobby and Alex were on their way to the hospital. Bobby sat fidgeting in the passenger seat until Alex sent him a look across the cab.
They met up with Vanessa, Lexie and Ken in the lobby.
"Where's Caity?" Ken asked as he watched Bobby and Alex walk in the door.
"We left her at home," Alex said.
"Alone?" Lexie asked.
Bobby laughed, "no, with a babysitter."
"I wish that I could be with her," Lexie grumbled.
"She's just tired," Vanessa apologized.
"Let me make a couple calls," Alex said. "I think that we can convince Lizzy to take Lexie." She pulled out her cell telephone and made the calls.
"What have you heard?" Bobby asked Vanessa.
"Not much, but the doctor did say he had some promising results," she said.
"Good," Bobby said with a nod. "Ali and I will do anything we can to help."
"That is so appreciated," Ken said as he put his hand on Bobby's shoulder.
"Done," Alex announced. "Faith and Bos are close so they will come and get Lexie. Lizzy is happy to have her."
"Good," Bobby said and kissed Alex's head. "Faith and Bos both work in Major Crimes with us," he informed Vanessa. Lizzy is the daughter of a friend, also a detective, with the Special Victims Unit."
"Thank you," Vanessa said softly.
Moments later Detective Faith Boscorelli appeared and Lexie was on her way to the Goren home.
The foursome made their way up to the doctor's office, and was ushered in quickly. The doctor joined them immediately.
"We have some good news," Doctor Sinclair said sitting down next to Vanessa on the sofa. "We have a match."
Bobby let out the breath that he had not been aware that he was holding.
"Mrs. Goren, you are a match for Kaitlyn."
"Me?" Alex said in surprise.
"The match is as close to being perfect as we can hope for." The doctor said.
"Me?" Alex asked again.
"As for the paternity test Mr. Goren, all indications are that you are Mrs. Riley's father. The final results will be available in a few days."
"Thank you," Bobby said as he turned to look at Alex. "Are you ok?"
"I'm the match?" Alex asked again. "But I'm not even blood related."
"Quite often unrelated bone marrow is used, and is very successful," The doctor assured them. "We usually check family first, but we regularly need to go to our unrelated lists. Now there is a little complication."
"Complication?" Ken asked wearily.
"Mrs. Goren, are you aware that you are pregnant?"
Alex's jaw fell open. "What?"
Bobby sat stunned for a moment, before he pulled Alex into his arms. "What does this mean for Kaity?"
Well, if you agree, we will still do the harvest on Mrs. Goren's hip…."
"Alex," Alex said. "Please, not Mrs. Goren, it is Alex. We will do anything to help them, but please don't let anything happen to this baby."
"We will take all necessary precautions." The doctor assured her. "Now we do still have a few necessary tests before we can schedule the harvest."
They set up times and then the doctor left the four alone.
Bobby pulled Alex close to him then looked into her shining eyes.
"Bobby," she whispered.
"It was meant to be," he assured her. "Caity will have a sister!"
"Brother," Alex said as she let go of her husband. You already have two daughters, now I get my son!
"If this is too dangerous for you…" Vanessa started.
"Vanessa," Alex said pulling away from Bobby. "We are here for you. If I can help, I will."
"If the doctor decides that it is too dangerous for Ali, then we will cross that bridge when we come to it." Bobby said as he studied Vanessa.
"Thanks…. Daddy…." She said and stepped into Bobby's waiting arms.
His felt his heart melt as tears spilled down his face. "I'm so sorry we had to meet this way," He said, "But I'm so happy to have you in my life now."
The next day was Sunday, and the weekly dinner at the Eames household. Alex and Bobby had discussed it and had decided to tell her family what was going on. They waited until everyone was finished supper and the children had gone into the living room to watch a movie.
"So for once, the Goren chapter has news," Alex said as she took a sip of a glass of milk.
"Really," her mother said looking up.
It was not often that Bobby and Alex offered news at the dinner table so everyone sat quietly waiting.
"Mom, Dad," Alex said with a sly smile. "Bobby and I are grandparents. We may have been the last of your kids to have children, but we are the first to make you great-grandparents!"
"What?" John Eames asked. "Lexie, you are not making sense."
"I found out this week that I have a grown daughter." Bobby said quietly. "My girlfriend in high school had a baby that I didn't know about. We met her this week, her daughter is very ill and she needed me to be tested to see if I was compatible for a bone marrow transplant." We did all the necessary tests including paternity. Unfortunately, I was not a match for her daughter Kaitlyn Alexis, but I was a match as Vanessa's father.
"I, on the other hand, was a match for Kaity," Alex said. "We also discovered via the blood tests that there is another little Goren on the way."
"So you can't donate?" Alex's sister Charlie asked.
"No, I can," Alex said. "Unless the doctors decide that it is too risky considering my history. Right now, everything is a go. I have some tests to do next week."
"So, next week, they will join us for dinner," John said as he lifted his cup. The matter settled.
The other Eames children offered some tidbits about their week, but the focus of the conversation centered on the Gorens.
When they got home that evening there was a message from Captain Deakins.
"He just wanted to know if everything was all right." Alex said as she followed Bobby up the stairs, and watched him lay Caity on her bed and pull the blankets up around her.
"I'll call him in the morning," Bobby said as he pulled Alex to him. "I've been thinking," he continued.
"Did it hurt?" Alex asked as her arms snaked around his waist.
"Jonathan Alexander," Bobby said, ignoring her comment. "What do you think?"
"I think I like Robert Jonathan," she said.
"Or, Alexander Robert?" Bobby asked.
Alex nodded against his chest. "I like that. Caity and Xander."
"I think it is bedtime," Bobby said as he kissed the top of Alex's head.
"I agree," she said.
Together they walked to their room and shut the door.
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End of Chapter 2. TBC, but I have many meetings next week, so I am aiming for next weekend.