AN: So ... for the sake of the story that this has developed into I have used a word in this chapter that honestly makes my stomach turn. It is a derogatory term and I do not mean to offend anyone by its use. However, if it makes anyone uncomfortable please let me know and I will edit it out.

Beyond that, I hope you like the chapter! I am grateful for the support!

Brenda walked into the waiting room the nurse had directed her to and found Sharon Raydor, in a clean set of clothes, sitting in the quiet area with one child in her lap, another to her right and a teenager sitting on the other side of the child. These couldn't be her kids, could they? Hers were grown … Taking a deep breath she walked over with Fritz right beside her and Provenza behind the two of them.

The case was closed fortunately, and everything with FID and Pope handled. The others were finishing up the paperwork so that she could come to the hospital. It had been surprising when Provenza tagged along but Brenda didn't question it (out loud at least).

As they neared her they could all hear Sharon humming a soft tune to the girl in her lap while her right arm wrapped around the boy at her side, her fingers gently running through his hair. Brenda opened her mouth, about to call her 'Captain' but thought better of it. "Sharon?" She looked up and it was clear she was tired but her worry seemed to have dissipated some.

She hummed softly as she offered a tired smile. "Kids," she began as she tapped the teenager's shoulder, bringing the girls attention to them. "I'd like you to meet some friends of mine," Sharon stated softly as she used her hands to sign. "This is Ms. Brenda, Mr. Fritz, and Mr. Louie, can you say hello?" The girl in her lap mumbled a shy hello while the boy waved eagerly. The teenager gave a soft smile to them before her eyes went back to Sharon.

"Mom," the boy started as he too signed while speaking. "Can I go find Ricky?"

"Mmm, sure baby. Lizzy, why don't you go with your brother?"

"I'm not a baby," the boy cried impatiently.

"Can I stay with you," the girl in her lap asked without signing.

"First," Sharon started. "You will always be my baby Benjamin."

"Ben," the boy cried in indignation at being called his full name.

"Even when you're as old as Ricky," Sharon continued as if he hadn't interrupted. "Second, yes honey but remember to sign," she said as she kissed the younger girls hair. "Now, Lizzy? Would you mind going with Ben?"

The teen smiled a very bright smile as she signed quickly. She took Ben's hand and led him passed the group with ease.

"Aren't you pretty," Provenza offered as he took the seat to Sharon's left and spoke directly to the child.

The girl smiled and giggled before she buried her face in Sharon's neck. "Oh now honey, don't you think you should thank Mr. Louie for that lovely compliment?" The girl peeked out at him before she offered a shy thank you.

"I think I'm gonna go visit the part of the hospital where all the new babies are kept. You wanna go with me?"

The girl smiled brightly before she turned to Sharon excitedly. "Hmm, I think that would be alright. Ally? You be polite, alright?"

"Yes Ma'am," Ally offered before she crawled off of Sharon's lap and smiled brightly as Provenza took her hand and walked with her down the hall.

"I didn't know you had so many children," Fritz offered as he sat on the coffee table in front of Sharon. She smiled tiredly as Brenda sat in the seat Provenza had just left.

"Five in total; and, no matter how old they get they are still just children at heart. Emily, our oldest, is flying back from New York. The doctors told me hours ago that everything was okay but that isn't enough to calm her down."

"I can understand that," Brenda offered with ease. "So, he's out of surgery?"

"No," Sharon shook her head. "The damage was minimal and they fixed everything a while ago. But, he was scheduled for surgery in just a few short weeks regarding his leg. The doctor's asked to do the surgery today. They think it'll be better to do it now since he's already under anesthesia than to put him back under so soon after this."

"Do you need anything," Brenda asked as she took Sharon's hand in hers.

"No," Sharon offered gently. "But thank you for the offer."

"So, what is Emily doing in New York," Fritz asked as a way to distract Sharon.

While they waited for her kids or a doctor to show Brenda learned a great deal about Sharon's family. Not so much about the woman herself but still, something. Her daughter Emily was 27 and a ballerina for the American Ballet Company, her son Ricky was 24 and had built and sold his very own computer tech company. Lizzy, or Elizabeth, was 15 and while she was deaf she was very skilled at the piano (like her mother apparently). Ben and Ally were twins and they had come into this world just hours after the military had sent representatives to tell Sharon her husband was MIA, likely dead.

Fritz had just started to ask about Jack's work with the military when a tall man with dark features came trotting up to them. "Sharon!"

"Eddie," she smiled warmly at the man.

"Sharon," he sighed as he sat next to her. "Sharon, they're here." Sharon's brow furrowed as she hummed, questioning the man's meaning. "He's here Sharon."

Suddenly her eyes grew large with what Brenda realized was fear. Even when they all realized Jack had been shot she hadn't looked this way. Worried, sure. Hurt, definitely. But truly afraid? This was new. "Eddie," she said as she grabbed his hand. "The children!"

"We ran into Ben and Lizzy on the way in. Claire has taken them to the cafeteria. We thought Rickie might be down there."

"Yes," Sharon offered absently as she and Eddie stood; Brenda and Fritz following. "He went in search of coffee. But Ally – Eddie!"

Brenda whipped out her phone and called Provenza quickly. He answered with ease ad she could hear the smile in his voice she knew he'd never own up to. "Lieutenant listen to me. Someone's arrived at the hospital, I'm not sure who but he shouldn't be anywhere near the Captain's children. I need you to take the Captain's daughter down to the cafeteria. You should find her other children there with a woman named Claire. Stay with her children until futher, is that clear?"

"I got it Chief, we're going there now." He hung up the phone and Brenda turned back to Sharon to find her holding her hands in tight fists.

"Thank you," Sharon offered with a bit of relief evident in her tone. "Eddie –"

"I'm not leaving you Sharon."

"Eddie please? I'm not sixteen anymore; I can take care of myself. But, I can't do that –"

"If you're worried about the kids." Eddie sighed heavily as he ran a hand over his face. "Keep me posted." He kissed her cheek before he jogged away and Sharon ran a hand through her long hair.

"Sharon," Brenda asked gently as she stepped forward.

"There you are." Those words came from behind Brenda and they felt cold and dirty. Maybe it was Sharon's fear that was turning her stomach; anyone that could make such a formidable woman afraid probably was a true terror. But, there was something in the way the man said those words that had Brenda thanking her lucky stars Fritz was with her.

If she thought that the presence of this man, who set Sharon scrambling to protect her children, might make Sharon cower once face to face – she was sorely mistaken. Because the woman in front of her went from a worried mother to 'Captain Darth Raydor' as easily as flipping a switch. She looked passed Brenda and raised her brow at the man as if to say 'duh'. "Here to try and kill my husband again?"

Sharon spoke so coldly that Brenda knew better than to get between the two. She stepped out of her way, not trying to hold Sharon back or protect her. Gawd knew that woman did not need protecting. Brenda came to stand by Fritz and realized the man that had spoken was much older, close to her father's age. And, there was something about his features … the tall build and the dark eyes that reminded her of the man that had warned them, Eddie.

"Still spouting those fanciful tales of yours I see," the man offered as he moved passed the woman at his side, stepping eerily close to Sharon.

"Sharon," the older woman began meekly.

"Don't," Sharon offered in her low, dangerous tone as she looked at the woman. "You have no right."

"Don't speak to your mother that way," the man barked.

"I will speak to the both of you any way I please," Sharon continued. "A mother who is unwilling to protect her children is no mother at all. And you," she huffed. "You are certainly no father."

The man slapped her without hesitation and Fritz stepped forward; but, it was clear he too didn't relish the idea of drawing Sharon's wrath. He stood close, but didn't interrupt as Sharon continued to stare the man, her father, down.

"Such a shame there isn't a flight of stairs handy," she offered as if being slapped by her father was expected. Brenda feared it likely was. "You could try to kill me again too."

"I have never –"

"No," Sharon asked as she stepped closer to the man, challenging him. "You never tried to kill me? Remember when you found out your good little catholic daughter was pregnant at sixteen? You told me you'd rather see me dead then carry that 'spics' child. You pushed me down a flight of stairs but instead of breaking my neck I lost my child! I'm not some teenager that the local authorities will turn a blind eye to if you wave enough money in their faces now. You might want to consider your actions a little more carefully. You might have gotten away with a great deal, even Joyce's murder; but, things have changed Dad." The last word was spit out as if it was the derogatory term, as if calling him that would suffice in place as a slap across the face. It certainly held more venom than the other derogatory word she had said.

Her father turned around and walked away, not even bothering to look back when her mother stayed still. "Sharon," she tried again, softly.

"You lost any right you might have had to comment on my life when you chose him over your own children. How many times did Joyce tell you what he was doing to her? How many times did you turn your back on your own daughter when he snuck out of your bed at night and into hers? And when he killed my child you sat in my hospital room and told me that I deserved my punishment because I had sinned. When I ran away from home I didn't just run from him, I was running from you too."

Her mother scurried away after her father but Sharon didn't relax, even after they were long out of sight. Fritz looked to Brenda, unsure and still afraid of drawing Sharon's anger. Silently taking a deep breath she moved forward. "Sharon?"

Sharon closed her eyes as she took a slow, deep breath. She seemed to sway ever so slightly as she placed a hand over her eyes. "Oh … God forgive me." The words were whispered but the pain in them was clear. Brenda placed a hand on her shoulder and eased her backwards towards the chairs. Sharon sighed heavily as she took a seat. "Oh God, I don't believe I said that word," she quietly continued, her face now buried in her hands. "What was I thinking?" Brenda wasn't certain which word she meant exactly. Was Sharon upset that she had called that man 'Dad' or was she upset because she had used the term her father apparently used to insult her husband?

Before they could get into the matter a doctor arrived. Apparently Jack was out of surgery and already coming out of anesthesia. He led the three of them to his room and Sharon immediately sat down on the edge of his bed while she took his hand in hers. After a minute she reached over with her free hand and picked up the phone. "Ricky honey," she spoke lovingly into the phone as she looked at her husband. "Your fathers out of surgery. Room 513." She hummed warmly before she hung up the phone.

While they waited Brenda and Fritz stayed just on the other side of the glass wall, not wanting to interrupt the moment. Sharon was cupping his cheek again, just like she had at the gala, with her thumb running over his scared cheek. It didn't take long before Provenza and Eddie came back with the children and the woman she assumed was Claire. Provenza stuck close to her and Fritz as they watched the others enter the room.

As they watched the family talk Brenda could finally see the things she had missed. Eddie didn't just look like his and Sharon's father. Though he was extremely tall, much taller than Sharon, their face structure was rather similar. The young man that had come with them, the one Brenda was certain was Ricky, was just as tall as Eddie but that's where the similarities ended. His eyes were nearly an exact shade of green as Sharon's but his colouring – that was all Jack. They both had a mop of nearly jet black hair and that dark skin that could be mistaken for a perpetual tan rather than indicate their Hispanic heritage. As a matter of fact all of their children had that lovely golden skin. None of the children had skin as dark as Jack's but then Sharon was so pale that her genes had likely counteracted his. Her daughters' hair wasn't nearly as dark as their fathers, or even Ricky's. But a warm chestnut colour, similar to their mothers while Ben's hair was nearly a dirty blonde.

Brenda was willing to bet that their daughter Emily looked just like the family.

She knew without a doubt that Sharon wasn't appalled at having called that man 'Dad'. She was sick at the idea of using the other term. Because no matter what the scenario was – quoting the man himself, revealing his ignorance and hatred – it had only served as to cause Sharon pain. This was her family. Not the man and woman that claimed to be her parents simply because of blood. She had chosen Jackson, had chosen this life and to have children with him. There was blood relating them all but Brenda knew that more than that, it was the choices and the decisions that led up to everything that made the family so strong.

None of them would ever be as weak as Sharon's parents.

Heaven knew there was nothing weak about Jackson Raydor. He was alive after all.

And Sharon … well … she had survived, and made sure her family thrived even while enduring so much pain.

Everything Brenda knew about the woman in front of her spoke to her. Brenda was strong in her own right but this, what Sharon and her family had gone through - were still going through. That was something else entirely, and Brenda knew that she wanted to be a part of it. She wanted to help if she could.

Because that kind of strength, that was simply admirable.