I own nothing. And this is the end. Enjoy!
"Hey Mac," Danny said after a moment.
"Danny," I said calmly.
"What are you doing here?" he asked laying down fully.
"That's my fault," Luca said sighing, "You couldn't call him so I sent him a txt saying that you were sick. He came here."
"It's alright Luca," Danny said softly, "He would have come over whether you sent the txt or not."
"Yeah," Luca said yawning widely.
"Get some sleep Kid," Danny said smiling, "I'll be fine for a few hours."
"You can barely get around Dad," Luca said frowning.
"I'll help," I said shrugging.
"We're fine," Luca said glaring at me again.
"Luca," Danny said firmly, "Stop. Mac can stay with me while you sleep."
"Dad," Luca said trying to fight him.
"Go," he said pushing him toward a closed door, "Mac will wake you up if anything happens."
"Fine," Luca said going to the door, "He better."
The door slammed behind Luca and I saw Danny flinch slightly. A sigh slipped from his lips and his hand went to rub his head. I guessed that Danny had a headache that was getting worse.
As much as I wanted to ask Danny why he never told me I knew that I wasn't going to get a straight answer yet. From how he was acting he probably had a low grade fever.
I got up and went to get a water bottle from the kitchen. Going back to the living room I placed the bottle in front of Danny and sat on the chair and waited for Danny to say something.
"I guess you're wondering what's going on," Danny said sitting up slightly.
"Lay down Danny," I said pushing him down, "You're still sick."
"Not as sick as Luca made me out to be," he said laughing, "He freaks out whenever I get sick."
"Why?" I asked slowly.
"Because of what happened with his mother," he said sighing, "Luca is old enough to remember how it was at the end of her illness."
"What happened?" I said calmly.
"Hayden Keller," he said smiling, "We dated for awhile seven years ago before she told me that she was pregnant. We had everything figured out and there was no way that I was going to leave her. We bought this place and fixed up Luca's room. About two years after Luca was born Hayden started to get really sick.
She was so sick she could barely leave our bed without getting physically sick. I took care of her and Luca the best I could, but after awhile I couldn't take care of both of them. Hayden got so sick that she had to stay at the hospital until she got better. She didn't get better though.
In fact she got worse faster then the doctors thought. They still didn't know what was wrong with her though. They tried everything to figure it out, but it was too late when they finally did. The meds that Hayden would have had to take wouldn't have worked at the stage of her sickness.
Luca was four by this time. He spent two years visiting Hayden in the hospital. Watching her basically fall apart day after day. During the last few months Hayden barely knew who either of us were. I wanted to stop taking Luca to see her, but the one time I did he walked down to the hospital himself.
A few weeks after Luca's fifth birthday Hayden died. It took awhile, but Luca was finally able to stop crying everyday over losing Hayden and I wasn't going on autopilot anymore. Everything was starting to go back to normal, for the most part, when I got a cold.
Luca freaked out when I spent the day in bed. He took care of me, the best he could, until I was better. It wasn't a bad cold or anything, but I did have a headache so I didn't want to move into the living room where it was too bright. The next day I was well again.
Once Luca saw that I was okay he locked himself in his room and refused to come out. I picked the lock and found Luca laying on his bed crying. I tried to get him to talk but all that he said was 'Mama'. I realized that he had been afraid that I was going to die just like Hayden did.
Now whenever I am sick Luca ends up worrying himself sick and I have to convince him that I'm not going to leave him. I've tired to my hardest to keep myself from getting sick, but I do sometimes. I keep wondering whether I should take Luca to talk to a professional. That's the story."
I stared at Danny and tried to take in the whole story. With everything that had happened to Luca I wasn't surprised by how he was acting toward me. He didn't want to leave Danny on the chance that he got sicker.
Nodding my head I looked between Danny and the door. I had to agree with Danny. Luca probably did need to talk to someone about everything that had happened to him.
Watching a parent die at that young of an age was never something easy to do, but Luca seemed to be taking it harder then most had. Having him talk to someone was a good idea.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked after awhile.
"Our work is dangerous," Danny said shrugging, "I didn't want anyone to use Luca against me or hurt him in anyway. Maybe it wasn't the right thing to do, but I did what I thought was best."
"I don't blame you," I said nodding, "But you still should have told me off the record. What if you got hurt? No one would know to tell Luca or to check on him and that would have hurt him more."
"You know now," he said calmly, "Nothing I can do about the past now."
"You're right," I said standing up, "How sick are you?"
"I'll be fine tomorrow," he said stretching, "It's just a stomach flu."
"Alright," I said smiling, "I want you to bring Luca into work with you tomorrow."
"What?" he asked confused.
"Bring Luca into work tomorrow," I said more firmly.
Danny nodded his head after a moment knowing that I wasn't going to take no for an answer. There was no real point in fighting against me when I had decided on something.
I watched Danny get up and walk into the kitchen. Following him I saw him take a box out of the top shelf. He took the box and brought it back into the living room before placing it on the desk.
"Luca," Danny said slightly loudly, "I know you're listening."
The door opened slowly to reveal Luca standing there with a soft blush on his lips. Luca walked up to us and sat next to Danny. Danny handed him the box and waited for Luca to take a cookie from the box.
Danny placed an arm around Luca's shoulders and let out a soft sigh. As much as it felt awkward for me to be sitting here watching the two of them talk I knew I couldn't leave either.
"Luca," Danny said calmly, "How would you like to come to work with me tomorrow?"
"Really?" Luca asked surprised.
"Yeah," he said nodding, "I also need to talk to you about how you act when I get sick."
"I just worry," Luca said shrugging.
"I know," he said sighing, "But you worry yourself sick and that's not good. You need to talk to someone about why you run yourself ragged when I'm sick."
"It's not a big deal," Luca said softly.
"It is if you're making yourself sick taking care of me," he said half hugging Luca, "Tomorrow after you meet everyone I'm going to take you to someone that you're going to talk to."
"I don't have much of a choice do I?" Luca asked rolling his eyes.
"No," he said laughing.
"Fine," Luca said dramatically, "I'll talk to someone. If I get ice cream after."
"Deal," he said smiling.
I felt the sides of my lips tug as I tried to fight the smile that was coming. I didn't want them to think that I was listening in even though I was sitting right next to them as they talked.
"Luca," Danny said motioning to me, "This is my boss, Detective Mac Taylor. Mac this is my son, Luca Daniel Messer."
"Hello Luca," I said offering him my hand.
"Hey Mac," Luca said shaking my hand.
"Nice to formally meet you," I said smiling.
Luca nodded his head before yawning loudly once more. He looked at Danny and rested his head on Danny's shoulder. His eyes slipped shut and he was almost instantly asleep.
Danny shook his head while standing up. Bringing Luca into his own room he tucked him in and came back into the living room and showing me out. Before shutting the door he let out a soft sigh.
"See you and Luca at work tomorrow," I said smiling.
"Yeah you will," Danny said before shutting the door.