Chapter 172

Alex was far from ready to call it sleep when the alarm went off, together with a reminder on her phone when she picked it up as she read it, smiling to herself. "And that smile?" Ryan asked emerging from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. "Doctors appointment in two weeks to find out the sex of the baby." She said sitting up.

"We don't need a doctor to tell us that we're having a boy. I have a feeling that it will be, and my gut is never wrong." He said and Alex looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Oh really? Like the gut feeling you had that Phoebe will be a girl?" She asked and he nodded. "Yeah Ryan Booth, I hope your feelings are in order then." She yawned getting up and making her way to the bathroom while he got dressed.

Ryan went downstairs after he made the bed to check up on his daughter. "Phoebe." He called down the hallway as he made his way into her nursery. She laid awake and sat up when she heard her father call her name. "Good morning sunshine. Did you sleep well?" He asked and she nodded her head, holding her arms out so he can pick her up.

He kissed her cheeks while she clung to her pink blanket and they made their way over to the kitchen. "Alright what do you want for breakfast?" Ryan asked as he looked through the cupboards for her cereal. He got the box out and put it on the counter.

"No Dada." She shook her head and pointed towards the cookie jar that was filled with Oreos on the counter.

"No Phoebe , that's not gonna work." He said calmly continuing to make her cereal and walking over to start feeding her. The moment the spoon came into sight she started crying and slapped it away, as some of it spilled on his shirt and on the counter. Sighing heavily he prepared for war this morning in getting his daughter fed.

"No Da-d-da." She sobbed refusing to open her mouth and continued pointing towards the cookie jar.

"Phoebe Grace, I said no. You're not having cookies for breakfast." Ryan said sternly and she looked up at him with big eyes because she usually gets her way with her father, while her mother is the strict one. Alex came down the stairs to see what is going on between the two of them.

"What's going on?" She asked making her way over to the fridge.

"She wants cookies for breakfast, and refuses to eat her cereal." He explained briefly.

"Giiiiiigiiiiiii." She continued kicking her legs where she sat on her high chair.

Ryan looked up at Alex with an exasperated look on his face as to how this happened so quickly. She was with Gig for a few days and now it's clear just how they were spoiled while they were there. If this is how they're struggling Alex wondered how Skye is and if Lucy and Yassin are going through the same toddler drama. "I'll take over, go put on a clean shirt." Alex said as she switched places with her husband ready for a food war.

Alex walked into the office in search of Harry Doyle and Brandon Lee, the agent who will have to do a background check for her on Luca. It has to be off the books though and her husband shouldn't know about it, not until she knows what is going on. She walked up to reception and Roxanne called her over showing her a guy who sat in one of the lounge chairs, his leg bouncing up and down nervously and that he was waiting on her.

"Harry Doyle?" Alex asked walking over to him, and he got up shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Alex Booth. I'm assuming you've been briefed on the week ahead?" She asked holding his file in her hand.

"Uuhhmm no not really. Just that I'll have some kind of mentor who I'll have to work with closely for about a week or so." He answered in a British accent and Alex looked at him with a smile and he had no idea what it was about.

"You have an awesome accent." She said. "Oh, uuhhmmm I need to be somewhere ten minutes max and I'll be back to let you know what case we'll be working on." She showed him around the bullpen and some of the interrogation rooms where it'll be quiet at this time of the morning if he is not in the mood for people while she made her way up to the third floor to speak to Brandon.

Maranda noticed the new recruits and assigned them a case to deal with on their own with two other agents, which meant that the paperwork would be double since they are less people on one case but she didn't mind. This is what recruits are for to do it at the end of the day, they were all there once. They handed out the files and Harry read through it, waiting on Alex so she can explain to him what they will be doing.

"Can we do lunch?" Shelby asked as they all walked out and they all agreed.

"If you're paying I'll be there." Alex said laughing walking away to get the day started.

"Uhm, if I speak out of place I'm sorry and I apologize in advance, but I couldn't help but notice that you're pregnant and you're doing a really dangerous job every day. Aren't you afraid of harming your baby?"

"I've had a few close calls, and my husband isn't really a fan of me being here when I happened to be pregnant but I love my job. And I am trying my utmost best to be careful." She explained sitting down opposite him as they looked at the case files, waiting for Nimah to arrive, who is late as always.

They read over the files while they waited for Nimah to show up. It happened to be a social welfare case where they have reported child neglect and the mother of the child is an alcoholic. They had no idea why the FBI is involved but the child got hurt and they're not willing to go to their apartment alone, so they're looking for backup just in case something happens.

"This sounds manageable. Is there anything specific I need to know? Rules or what to say and what not to say?"

"Don't get personally involved." Ryan's voice came from the door. "Nimah's running late I'll have to accompany the two of you. I'm Ryan Booth." Ryan said friendly, shaking Harry's hand and he looked between the two of them confused. "Yes we're married. Don't worry it won't be awkward you won't be third wheeling." Ryan laughed as the recruit nodded and followed them out.

They pulled up to the house and from the outside nothing looked suspicious, except for an ambulance that was standing outside. They walked up to the house and one of the EMT's came out before they reached the front door.

"Hi I'm Alyssa. Uhm I don't really know how to say any of this. There's an eleven year old boy with bruises all over his body but he claims he fell. His mother doesn't know how he attained it and he has marks on his wrists. Like he's been cutting himself, and a broken arm." She explained briefly before they entered the house with her, while her partner worked on the boy's arm getting it into a splint.

His mother was pacing up and down the kitchen while the medics tried to figure out where he had gotten hurt. "Uhm ma'am we're gonna have to take him to hospital just to be sure, and have some x-rays done. You'll bring him back right?" She asked concerned with big eyes and the two EMT's looked at each other and shrugged.

"Mom, you're coming with right? You're not gonna leave me there. They're not gonna take me away like the previous times" The child said as his mother pulled her hands through her hair.

"I'll meet you at the hospital Taylor." She said and walked over to him kissing his head and ruffling his hair.

"I am not abusing Taylor if you guys are here to take him out of my care again." She said looking up at the three faces. "I'm Hannah. I'm a single parent and I'm assuming you guys have done a background check." She stated looking at Alex and she nodded her head slightly. "I've been sober for thirteen months now, I'm working two jobs to take care of my son."

"When last have you been in contact with the rehab center? Or a support group" Harry asked looking around the apartment.

"Half an hour ago." She said showing him the phone call and her text messages.

"Do you have a chip or something we can see?" he asked again and she handed it to him as he nodded, not knowing if he's doing the right thing but the fact that Alex hasn't said anything yet or stopped him in his tracks makes him think everything is still fine. "Would you mind if I look around in Taylor's room?" Alex asked and Hannah showed her the way to his room.

"Uhm, can I take a look in your fridge and cabinets?" Harry asked and she moved away from the kitchen walking towards the lounge where she continued pacing, while Ryan looked at the photographs on the wall. Harry nodded his head in Ryan's direction to indicate that he found nothing suspicious in the kitchen area and Alex emerged from the room doing the same.

"I love my child, and I would do anything to protect him. I try to feed him well even if it means that I'll have to go to bed hungry. This little apartment and Taylor is all I have, I am not drinking again. If..if social services take him again will it be possible that you'll tell them what you've seen when you searched the house?" She asked making eye contact with Alex again.

"At this point we can't promise anything ma'am but we'll try our best." Alex answered sincerely and the woman nodded walking up and down the living room, until they've finished their questions and made their way to the hospital to question Taylor.

When they arrived at hospital Taylor was sitting at reception with a younger woman who introduced herself as someone from social services as they looked through his paperwork. The doctors explained that he has been taken away from his home thrice within one year and his mother was declared incapable of taking care of her son. "Would you mind if we talk to him?" Alex asked and the doctor nodded, showing her to a room where they could talk privately. Ryan stayed outside to talk to the social worker while she and Harry went ahead and spoke to him.

"Hi Taylor, would you mind if we ask you a few questions?" Alex asked and he looked up at her and shrugged. "I'm Alex and this is Harry."

"Nice to meet you man." Harry said fist bumping him and he gave a small smile in Harry's direction.

"Taylor do you know why we're here?" Alex asked and he shook his head.

"No, but I've heard the paramedics talking saying I might be taken away from my mom again. She did nothing wrong." He answered looking between the two of them.

"Okay. Then I promise to be honest with you, if you can promise to do the same. How did you get those bruises on your body?" Alex asked looking at him and he became uncomfortable. "How do you know about it?"

"We've seen pictures of it. And that is not bruises one gets from falling." She shook her head and waited on him to answer. Taylor's eyes teared up and he stood up walking to the corner of the room. "You don't know me, or what's going on in my life. You've seen me for five minutes and now you're making assumptions about me and my mom. Claiming to be good guys when you're just like the rest of them!" He yelled and Harry looked at Alex with big eyes not knowing what to do next but she indicated that they should wait and let him speak before they interrupt. "I know we're poor. And that I don't have the nicest clothing. I don't have friends because I'm being bullied at school, my mom is the only real person on my side and you're trying to take that away from me as well. And if you do that I have nothing left."

Sometime during all of this Ryan entered the room and no one noticed, were he stood in the opposite corner of the room not saying a word. Harry swallowed deeply and looked at the boy. "Taylor, we're jus-

"You have no idea what if feels like to be bounced around from one orphanage to the next. Having to tell your story to strangers over and over again and still have no one believe you. So what difference will it make if I tell you guys about it?" He asked as the tears flows from his eyes looking between the three grown ups in the room. "I'm being bullied at school, none of the teachers believes me because I'm just a mutt, as they call me. The kids in my class are bigger than me, when I don't wanna give them my lunch they take it from me, and beats me while I walk home or wait on the bus. I don't wanna tell my mom because there is nothing she'll be able to do about it."

"Taylor look at me." Alex said softly and he closed his eyes for a little while breathing deeply before looking at Alex. "You are not a mutt. And I don't care how many kids are saying these things to you what's important is that you do not see yourself in that light." She tried but he shook his head.

"Ma'am you have no idea what it feels like to be bullied. No offence you are really pretty so you don't have to act as if you know what I'm going through." He said and Ryan smiled slightly.

"You're right, I haven't been bullied in school. In fact I was the bully." Alex admitted seeing his face change. "And I am not proud of what I did. But Taylor you're gonna have to tell your mother about this she has the right to know. And I said I'd be honest with you and if you don't tell her I will. And if she's not planning on doing anything about it I'll go to the school myself. But this is ending." She said and Taylor opened his mouth to try and say something but he was stopped in his tracks. "If I were you I'd listen to her man she can be quite scary." Harry said and Taylor smiled a little nodding his head.

"And some good news, you're going back home tomorrow. Your mom is on her way, they just want to keep you here overnight for some observation." Ryan said and the boy smiled.

"Thank you." He said softly as they got up and one of the nurses came to get him, Alex ruffled his hair as he walked past her.

They signed few forms before leaving the hospital and drove back to the office. "You survived day one Harry." Alex said when they walked inside and handed him a bunch of files and papers. "This is part two, you'll need to finish all of these before it's time to go home." She smiled while he stood in the middle of the room with files in his hand not really knowing what to do with it and she goes upstairs to see what Brandon found out.

Knocking on the door softly she heard him say to enter, she closed the door and walked over to his desk. "It wasn't that difficult to get a hold of the guy." Brandon explained showing her the things he found as he laid out all the printed pages on the desk. "Luca Michael Parrish, uhm before I continue mind if I ask if the two of you are related?" Brandon asked but the look Alex gave him made him shift that question to the back of his mind and he decided to let it slide. "Okay then, he's been checked into various hospitals for alcohol OD's. A rehab center but he failed to complete treatment and checked himself out. Uuuhhhmm he lives with his mother down South, he's twenty years old and appears to have a drinking problem, as his records state that he only or rather mostly break into liquor shops."

Alex nodded not saying anything. "Anything about his father, or a school he is enrolled in?"

"Nothing about his father, but you have the same last name he could be your brother." Bandon smiled and again Alex wasn't impressed with him. "Alex what's going on with you today why are you so grumpy? Anyway, here is the interesting part he scored straight A's in high school so it makes no sense why he is not enrolled in a college. But this is what I could find out on the surface if you want me to dig deeper you're gonna have to give me a little more time."

She shook her head while running a hand through her curls, "no it's fine thank you. Oh and my husband doesn't have to know about this." She said as she took the pages and walked out the office. The elevator doors opened on the third floor and Ryan saw her leave Brandon's cubicle in a hurry making him wonder what was going on, and if it had something to do with Shelby looking for her parents. And when he walked past Brandon greeting him like he usually do he acted weird making the special agent even more suspicious about what went down.

Hey guys a little something. I felt like this case was boring but I couldn't come up with something more exciting that involved guns and shooting (I really need to add more shooting and violence). So I hope this will do for now. Thank you for reading.

Lovies-S