Disclaimer: Totally Dick's!
A/N: Y'all aren't going to be happy…but I hope you like it anyway. Thanks for reviewing!
Back In The Cigar Room…"Alex…"
Alex just looked at him. The bowtie from his tuxedo had come undone, his hair was more disheveled than usual and he looked like he had lost his best friend. Had he? "Bobby, I almost didn't come. But I had to tell you…I'm leaving Major Case." The tears started coursing down her face again, ruining the professional make up she'd had done. Bobby just stared at her in disbelief.
"You're, you're leaving Major Case because of this? Why? What will you do?" What will I do, Bobby thought bitterly. He thought they were passed this. She had been acting fine. Hmm, acting being the key word here, Goren. She wiped away tears with one hand, the other still holding the cigar. He pulled a tissue out of his pocket and closed the gap between them. He pressed the tissue into one hand and took the cigar out of the other. He watched as she wiped the make up from her face, tossing her head back, trying to get the curls out of her face. She still looked beautiful. He felt a familiar lump in his throat.
"I just, I can't deal with it. I've got money put away and money I haven't touched from when Sean died. I'll be fine and I'll find something." Alex stopped to look at him. He was crying. "Why are you crying?" She tilted her head to the side and let her arms hang at her sides.
"I drove you away from this. You love this job, you're a good cop and you're just going to resign because of this? Because of me?" Bobby whispered the last part, hoping it wasn't true but knowing it was.
"It's not your fault. It's me; I should be able to be a big girl and grow up…but I can't. I love you too much. And this job means more to you than it does to me. I shudder to think of poor Lisette being cooped up in a house with a bored you." Alex grinned through her tears, hoping to get some sort of positive reaction out of him. That wasn't going to happen. Bobby collapsed into one of the overstuffed chairs and buried his head in his hands.
"Don't even say her name," he said, sounding detached. Alex's breath caught in her throat. She walked back over to him, her dress swishing around her legs. Bobby could see her toes poking out from under the hem of the dress. He was wondering where her shoes had gone to when she tilted his head up to meet hers.
"Listen to me – I will be fine. You will be fine. Lisette will be fine. You have a baby coming," Alex stopped to think for a second. "Forgive me, but you're sure this baby is yours?"
Bobby nodded his head miserably. There had been tests. The baby was his. "Yes, but it needs an Aunt Alex."
Alex smiled. "Give me some time, and then I'll spoil the shit out of it. But for right now, I have to do this." Alex kissed Bobby's forehead. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her. She returned the embrace, but broke away first. "Congratulations, Bobby." She picked up her shoes and purse and left the cigar room. Bobby sat in the chair, staring at the door, for a long time. He hadn't noticed Mike and Carolyn had come in.
"Hey big guy, Lisette's looking for you," Mike said hesitantly. Carolyn let go of Mike's hand and went over to Bobby and rubbed his arm sympathetically. Bobby stood suddenly.
"She's leaving Major Case. Because of me! She's leaving because I broke her goddamn heart – " Bobby stopped, the tears choking him. He sat back down and sobbed. Mike looked at Carolyn questioningly and Carolyn shook her head. She'd had no idea Alex was leaving.
"Bobby, you have to go downstairs now. Everybody's leaving. And Lisette is not happy," Carolyn warned.
"She married me, why should she be?" Bobby retorted.
"Bobby, come downstairs so we can go home," Lisette appeared in the doorway, the strap to her dress broken and held together with the ribbon from her bouquet. Her hair was up in a ponytail on top of her head, a messy braid falling in front of her eyes. Her nieces had gotten a hold of her and she was too tired to protest. Bobby's eyes immediately went to the tiny bulge on her stomach, noticeable only to him. She was only three months along, but he could tell. It brought a smile to his face.
"Alex, she's leaving Major Case," Bobby told her, standing up.
Lisette nodded. "I talked to her on her way out. It'll be okay, Bobby." She reached for Bobby's hand. She visibly relaxed when he didn't pull away from her. Mike reached for Carolyn's hand and followed the newly married couple out of the cigar room and out into the night.
One Year Later…Alex sat in the park, rocking a stroller back and forth gently while she people watched. There was the old man who sat with his chess board, waiting for some one to play with, the ladies who jogged with their babies in the fancy jogging strollers, and speaking of joggers, there was Lynn Bishop out for her Tuesday evening run. Alex smiled a little and waved at her; Lynn smiled and nodded briefly and kept on running. Alex leaned over to check on the infant in the stroller. She was starting to stir. Dinnertime, Alex thought. She pulled a bottle out of the diaper bag and hoisted the baby out of the stroller. The baby sucked away eagerly and soon fell back asleep. Alex shifted her daughter to her left shoulder and started patting her back, trying to coax a burp out of her. More people flooded down the pathways of the park. Alex was lost in thought when she heard a familiar voice.
"Alex?" Alex looked up startled. Bobby. He pushed his stroller over until he was next to her bench. "Do you mind?" He motioned to the bench. Alex was too stunned to speak, but recovered.
"Yeah, sit, sit." They just looked at each other for a minute. Alex motioned towards the stroller Bobby had rolled up with. "Is that him?" Bobby nodded, barely trying to hide the proud smile on his face. Alex stood and shifted the baby girl in her arms to her hip. Bobby stared at the baby Alex was holding. "Oh, Bobby he's adorable. What's his name?" Alex turned to look at Bobby, who was staring at her funny.
"So, when did you…?" Bobby trailed off, motioning towards Alex's daughter.
"She's yours, Bobby. I didn't even know how to tell you. And I didn't even want to hurt Lisette again, so I just kept my mouth shut," Alex explaining quietly. Bobby nodded.
"So, have you been working?" Bobby fussed with his son's bib. Alex frowned at him.
"You just find out you have a daughter and you're asking me if I've been working?" Alex stared at him in disbelief.
"Lisette and I got divorced. Post-partum depression. She couldn't bounce back and wouldn't let me help her at all. And then it reminded me of that case we worked on, with the bomb planted underneath the van and that bastard of a husband drove his wife insane? She moved in with her mother. She won't even see the baby." The baby squealed in his stroller. "How old is she?"
"Um, almost four months. Her name is Leila Maeve." Alex shifted Leila higher on her hip. Bobby motioned for Alex to hand the baby to him.
"Do you mind?" Alex handed Leila over and Bobby cradled his daughter in his arms.
"They look alike," Alex commented as she played with Bobby's son. "What's his name?"
Bobby smiled. "Carson Elias, nearly seven months." They sat in silence for a minute or two. Alex turned to Bobby, her face squinted up, like she was dreading the answer to her question.
"Are you hungry? There's a really good Thai place around the corner that I can finally go to now that I'm done breastfeeding." Bobby snorted.
"You're done already?"
Alex rolled her eyes. "I swear, she's got fangs hidden in there. I work part time at a police station near my parents' house. Between her biting me and getting called out, I couldn't hack it." Bobby grinned.
"You just wanted Thai food. It's okay, you can admit it." He placed Leila back in her stroller and started walking with Alex towards the park entrance.
