Chapter 2

Malcolm shook his head. Of course his mother had to show up now. He looked down at Isabella then to Dani. The detective nodded her head, letting him pass the baby to her.

However, the moment Isabella left Malcolm's arms; she started to let out whining noises. First Malcolm tried handing her the stuffed pink owl that had been with her in her crib which seemed to work for a few moments until her little arms reached out to him again as she kicked her legs. Malcolm sighed as he took her back from Dani. Isabella gurgled with glee as she hugged his neck with one arm and held her plushie with the other. He gave a tiny smile before walking out to find his mother standing by one of the desks, impatiently tapping her foot.

"Mother."

Jessica gave a forced smile, "Malcolm. I-" She noticed the baby in her son's arms, "What is this?"

"Well, I think you would know but this is a baby." Malcolm smirked.

Jessica rolled her eyes, "Don't get smart with me."

The little girl looked turned her head and blinked her bright blue eyes at Malcolm's mother, "This is Isabella."

Before he could continue, Jessica let out a tiny gasp, "Malcolm!" She said in scandalized whisper, "She's not... yours, is she?"

Malcolm furrowed his brows and let out an exasperated chuckle, "No."

"Malcolm, if you have been hiding-"

"Mother, I swear to you that this isn't my child." He adjusted the way he held Isabella when she started fidgeting, "She's the child of one of our latest victims."

While her expression didn't change, Malcolm did see his mother's eyes soften slightly, "I see."

"We're only watching her until a social worker gets here."

"Of course."

"So, what is it that you need to come here to tell me?"

"There is going to be a gala next week and I expect you to attend this one."

Malcolm sighed. These galas were always his least favourite thing to do and considering that there is a lot of things he doesn't like to do, that was saying something. "Is that all?"

"Not quite." Malcolm raised an eyebrow at Jessica's response, "Since you won't take any of my suggestions, I also expect you to bring a date."

"A date?"

"Yes, a date."

"Couldn't you think of something easier for me to do like... taking a bear cub from its mother?"

Jessica scoffed, "Don't be a child Malcolm. I'm sure you can find someone suitable in time."

Malcolm's eyes narrowed, "What's your angle?"

"No angle. I would just like for people to know that my son does enjoy the company of other people." Isabella happened to giggle in that moment and clap her hands. Jessica couldn't help but give a tiny smile, "See, even the child agrees with me."

"I'll do best."

"See that you do."

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

"Social worker just said that all nearby foster homes are full at the moment." Gil said with a frustrated tone as he walked into the room.

"So, where will Isabella go?" Malcolm asked as he felt the baby's head rest on his shoulder, her eyelids growing heavy. "We can't just abandon her."

"Are we sure that there's no next of kin?" Dani asked.

Gil shook his head, "None at all, not even a family friend."

"Well, she seems fond of you Bright." JT tried to joke, "Why don't you take her?"

Gil smiled, "Actually, that might not be a bad idea. She is already comfortable with you and until we can find someone to take her in, it'd be good for her to be with someone she likes."

Dani noticed the way Malcolm tensed up at the thought. He quickly covered it up by chuckling, "I don't know. I don't think my apartment's baby proofed enough. I wouldn't even have somewhere for her to sleep."

"We could find a crib." JT suggested, "And some toys, babies aren't that picky. They find paper ripping hilarious."

Malcolm was about to protest when Isabella yawned and snuggled against his shoulder as her eyelids grew heavy. He looked down at the little girl. It pained him to think of what could have happened to her if the killer had been aware she had been there... but how could he be able to take care of her? Should babies even be allowed near him? He had to sleep with restraints and a mouth guard, would he even notice if she started crying in the middle of the night?

"Bright?" Dani's voice broke his train of thought.

"Sorry, I just..." He looked down at Isabella, her eyes now fully shut as she breathed deeply in peaceful sleep. He gave a small sad smile, "I don't know if that's the best idea."

"I can help." Dani said without thinking.

They all turned to look at her in surprise. Gil smirked, "Powell?"

Dani cleared her throat, "I just mean if I can babysit Bright while he's high as a kite, I can help him actually babysit a baby."

"I was higher than a kite." Dani and Gil gave him a look, "You'd do that for me?" Malcolm asked.

She shrugged, "What are friends for?"

His eyes lit up at her response.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

Malcolm and Dani entered Malcolm's apartment with Isabella and plenty of baby supplies in hand. From a crib to baby proofing supplies to new clothes and toys to baby food to even a stroller, it was all there. Sunshine's chirps could be heard as they brought the supplies.

"Bright, I think you may have gone a bit overboard for a temporary situation." Dani grinned as she closed the door behind them.

Malcolm scoffed, "I only got the essentials."

"You almost bought a printer because she pointed at it and laughed."

"So I don't have good spending habits, sue me." He grinned.

Dani placed some bags on the ground before raising her eyebrows, "Bright?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's the baby?"

Malcolm smirked as he turned a stroller around with Isabella napping peacefully inside, "You didn't think I'd actually forget about the baby, did you?"

Dani chuckled, "You did almost forget her in the shopping cart."

Malcolm looked away as his ears turned a bit red, "Well, I didn't forget her this time." He knelt down to check on Isabella. She was clutching her pink owl tightly and was wrapped in her fluffy blanket. She was so tiny. Her black-brown curls being clipped back by butterfly clips. Malcolm gave a sorrowful look. This little girl really had no idea what was going on, she had no idea that she would never see her mother again, she had no idea that-

"Bright?" Malcolm's train of thought had been broken. "What's wrong?"

"She's so small..."

She knelt down next to him, "Babies usually are."

"What happens to kids in foster care?" Dani blinked her eyes and furrowed her brows. Malcolm turned his head to look at Dani, "They don't all... get lost in system, do they?"

"I-I..." She stammered, "I honestly don't know..." She saw the way Malcolm's face fall as he looked back to Isabella. "I do know that babies like Isabella do have a better chance at getting adopted." Isabella let out a noise in her sleep before calming down once again. Dani felt her heartstrings being pulled. It wasn't that she hadn't dealt with kids during cases before but there was just something different about this. Maybe it was because she had always kept her distance or that the kids had usually been much older than an eight-month-old.

"It's not fair."

"What?"

"For all the things I say against my mother... there's part of me that's grateful for her." Dani didn't say anything. Instead, she just waited for him to continue. "I remember... after Ainsley was born, Mother got sick... really sick." He felt his hand tremble a bit, "I remember that we brought Ains home but Mother was still under surveillance in the hospital." He took a deep breath, "When she did come home... she seemed stronger than ever." He gave a watery smile, "Even though, a lot of the time, she tends to go overboard, she has tried her best. Part of me wonders if I would have even had the guts to call the cops about the Surgeon if I hadn't had my mother to fall back on." He takes a deep breath, "Isabella's got no one to fall back on."

"She has you." Dani said before she could stop herself.

He gave the detective a sad smile, "For now but..."

"She'll be okay." Dani said, placing a hand on Malcolm's shoulder as if she was promising him.

His smile grew slightly and he nodded his head, "Let's get this crib built."

After a while and a lot of cursing, Malcolm and Dani got a handle on building Isabella's crib. They had gotten the base done and as they began to move crib somewhere suitable for Isabella to sleep. As they started putting the mattress in, they didn't notice Isabella wake up until she started letting out little grunts and whines. Malcolm turned around and saw Isabella with her eyes tightly pressed shut and face was twisted with discomfort.

He walked over and started to detangle her from her blanket as she started squirming, "Hey... hey, it's okay... it's okay." He took her out of the stroller and started to adjust her to rest in his arms, "You're okay... you're alright, you're-" His nose caught something, "That doesn't seem right."

"What's up?" Dani asked as she walked over. She scrunched her nose when she too caught a whiff of what had Malcolm so confused, "You did get diapers, right?"

Malcolm chuckled, "Of course I did..." His grin slowly turned sheepish.

Dani raised an eyebrow, "But..."

"I never said I knew how to change a diaper."

I thought I'd end this on a bit of a humorous note seeing as the next few chapters are gonna get a little heavy... or they might not, I don't know, it'll depend on my mood XD

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please let me know what you thought, tell me if you have any guesses about where the story is gonna go, I'd love to hear it!

Hope I can get the next chapter out faster but I also hope you've enjoyed what I have so far.