A/N: I hope you guys like this chapter. Alex gets to sample some of Bobby's cooking in this. ... and I reveal why she stayed.
As the three ate and talked about various things, Wilma could hardly contain herself with her good news. She watched her brother and his new partner interact and could tell without a doubt in her mind that he wanted this partnership to work.
"So, Alex?" Wilma asked halfway through the meal, "What'd you do before you got into Major Case?"
Alex swallowed the food in her mouth before saying, "I spent three years in Vice. What about you, Wilma? What do you do?"
Bobby stiffened slightly, remembering that his sister had quit her job a few weeks before. Needless to say, he was rather surprised when Wilma responded, "I'm starting down at the 2-7 tomorrow. I spent five years working Vice in Indianapolis before moving up here – about eight months in Narcotics and now Homicide."
At her announcement, Bobby started coughing. When he finally got his breathing under control, he turned to his sister with a death glare, "When did this happen?"
"Lt. Ashley came to see me this morning," Wilma explained. "Apparently the brass didn't want to let me go over what happened and Lt. Van Buren's been after them for a while to get some fresh meat in Homicide."
Bobby furrowed his brow, "Where's Fin headed?"
"SVU, apparently," Wilma said with a shrug. "All I know is Van Buren wanted me, Ashley wanted to fire me, and Van Buren won."
"What happened?" Alex asked, not really sure she wanted to know, but asking just the same.
Wilma shrugged again, "I … I was reminded a little too much of my childhood and … lost my composure."
A cell phone rang. "It's mine," Wilma said apologetically. She got up from the table as she answered it, only to return a few minutes later with a stark white face. "I gotta go," she said, her voice frightened as she looked at her brother. "There was a accident … I have to go pick up Jeremy."
"Are you going to be okay by yourself?" Bobby asked her, worry etched onto his face.
Wilma nodded, not trusting her voice as she got her purse and jacket and headed out the door. When she reached the doorway she stopped, turned and said, "They're going to be okay – Jeremy just wants his mommy."
Bobby nodded, "You know where to find me."
Wilma nodded again and left, rushing toward her son and ex-husband. Alex watched Bobby as he reacted to his sister's words. She could tell that he wanted more than anything to get up and find out what was going on, but there was also something else in his demeanor that made Alex rethink that assessment.
"Who's Jeremy?" Alex finally asked.
Bobby's eyes flickered to Eames' face, "Her son."
"She's married?"
"Divorced. The asshole sued for full-custody and claimed she was an unfit mother because of her job."
"He won?" Alex asked, incredulous at the idea of someone calling Wilma an unfit mother. Just from the time she'd spent with the woman she could tell that Wilma Carson would be an excellent mother. "How?"
Bobby gave her a look, "Her ex-husband is Steven Boufe – defense attorney."
Alex raised her eyebrows, unsure how those two people had ever gotten together. Bobby just shook his head at her, "Don't ask. That's one thing she doesn't talk about."
"Hmm," Eames responded.
"What?" Goren asked, unsure why she was suddenly critical of something.
Eames cocked her head to one side as she studied her large partner, "I seem to recall you promising me a full dinner with dessert included. Chocolate cake, if I recall correctly."
Goren smiled softly before rising and taking their plates into the kitchen. He returned minutes later with two plates of homemade chocolate cake. Alex took a bit and grinned in delight at the succulent flavor of the chocolate and cream cheese frosting. Perfect in every way. Her eyes wide in pleasure and delight she asked, "Where'd you get this?"
Bobby looked at her a little oddly before saying, "I made it."
Eames looked at him incredulously again, "You made it? Yourself?"
"Don't look so surprised, Eames. I'm a pretty good cook."
As she took another bite Alex decided that she'd give Bobby Goren another chance at being her partner. Hell, if he could make cake that rivaled the pleasure factor of all the sex she'd had since her husband died two years before – she'd be willing to put up with his quirks. "Chief Goren the Magnificent," she muttered under her breath.
Bobby heard her and smirked, knowing that the cake had sealed her to him. "Call me Bobby," he said, his voice soft as he took another bite.
Eames smiled in response, "Chief Bobby the Magnificent."
---
When Wilma arrived at the hospital, she flashed her badge at the front desk, asked about Steven Boufe and was immediately directed to the OR waiting room.
Jeremy was sitting in one of the cold, depressing hospital chairs looking down at his feet when he heard a clip-clop of a woman's shoes on the linoleum flooring. He looked up and jumped off his seat shouting, "Mommy!"
Wilma caught him in her arms, holding her son close as she closed her eyes in relief that he was all right. "Are you okay, Jeremy?" she whispered as she cradled him the same way she did when he had a skinned knee as a toddler.
Jeremy nodded, sitting up in his mother's arms so he could play with her lapels, "Daddy's sleeping, though. Mr. Fin said he'll wake up when the doctors are done fixing him up."
"What about Brittany?" Wilma asked, her mind racing at the notion that Fin was there.
Jeremy shrugged, "Ms. Brittany wasn't in the car." He looked back up at his mother with soulful eyes that reminded her so much of his Uncle Bobby's, "Mommy? Mr. Fin said he knows you. Do you know Mr. Fin?"
Wilma glanced over to where Fin was standing a few feet away, unsure if he should stay or go. She smiled softly at her old partner, "Yes, Jeremy, I know Mr. Fin. He used to be Mommy's police partner."
The little boy's eyes grew wide; "He used to catch bad guys with you?"
"Yeah, he did."
Fin walked closer to the two as the doctor came out of the OR. "Detective Carson?" he asked as he approached.
"That's me," Wilma said, shifting Jeremy from one hip to the other. "How's Steven?"
"I'm Dr. Smith, your ex-husband's surgeon. He'll be okay. Steven just got out of surgery a few minutes ago," the doctor said, his eyes traveling to Jeremy (who had nestled back into his mother) before turning back to Fin and Wilma, "One of his lungs collapsed due to the force of the impact, and three of his ribs were broken. But there's no internal bleeding – just a mild concussion, fractured right wrist and a whole bunch of bruises. He was very lucky, Detective."
Wilma nodded, "Thank you, Dr. Smith. What about my son? Jeremy? Why wasn't he hurt?" she asked as she looked down at the form of her child as he tried to disappear into her arms.
"The impact was in the front of the car – they were rammed. Jeremy was sitting in the back of the car," Fin answered for the doctor.
The surgeon nodded, "Jeremy may feel a little sore, and he has some bruising where the seatbelt cut into his skin in the whiplash, but he'll be fine. Steven won't be up for visitors for a while, but I will notify you when he is." With another nod to the mother, Dr. Smith turned on his heel to go check on his patent.
A/N: Well? I hope you liked it. My sister makes the best chocolate cake in the world, and that's what I was thinking of when I wrote Bobby's cake making skills. Please review.