Chapter Seventeen

Later That Evening

When he answers the door, she is pleased to see that he hasn't been drinking. He just looks so sad. "I brought some dinner, eggplant parm. Are you hungry?"

"Yeah I could eat. Thanks." He takes the bags from her and sets them down on the kitchen table. He is very quiet as they set the table. Before she sits down, Alex opens the frig and looks inside, "Beer or soda?" She looks over her shoulder. A little louder she says, Bobby, beer or soda?"

"Soda's good. Thanks."

They sit down to eat. He takes a few bites of food then he places his fork down as he sits back in the chair. "What am I going to do? I don't know what to do?"

Alex swallows her food quickly. "What do you want to do?"

He shakes his head and sighs. "Find a big black hole and jump in."

She takes a hold of his hand and smiles as he exhales deeply. He leans forward in the chair. "What about you?" He asks pointing his finger in her direction. "Why aren't you heading for the door?"

"You think I just fell in love with you a couple of weeks ago?"

Not looking in her direction he says in a whisper. "It's been about a year for me."

"Oh, yeah." She smiles. "When, tell me."

"I can't tell you the exact day but your sister had just e-mailed you some pictures of Matthew and you called me over to look at them. I looked at the photos then I sat back down and you continued to look and the smile on your face and the love in your eyes for that little boy was so………..you looked so beautiful. I wanted to touch you but I couldn't. You weren't Eames anymore you were Alex."

She leans over and kisses his cheek. "I know when I say this you get shy but you are so sweet and I love you." He smiles at her and kisses her cheek. They have forgotten all about Nicole for a while.

He takes a few more mouthfuls. "It's your turn."

"Do you remember that guy who donated his body parts?"

"Oh man." Nodding his head as he chews, "Yeah I remember."

"Talk about Looney tunes, anyway, when we were in the hospital talking to his first victim's husband. His little boy was acting up and his father couldn't control him. You casually got up grabbed a few paper cups put them down on the floor and the kid entertained himself so we could talk. It's what a father would do and it wasn't you kid. You looked so sweet and I looked at you so differently that day and every day since then."

He touches her cheek and lightly kisses her lips. "I love you so much. I never thought I would ever be this happy."

They continue to eat in a comfortable silence.

Alex breaks the silence "Why is it that way? People who want children can't have them and people who don't get them." He gives her a questionable look but says nothing.

They finish their meal and clean up the kitchen. "You staying tonight?"

"Yes. I'm too tired to drive." Alex changes her clothes and sits on the couch she grabs the TV remote and clicks.

He sits down next to her. She starts watching CSI. He quickly grabs the remote from her hand. "Please not a cop show."

"I like this show."

"Yeah ever CSI I know interrogates suspects. Come on."

"Oh it's just a TV show. Give it back." She waves her hand at him.

"Here."

"Thank you. I'll change it."

After about ten minutes, she nudges him. "What are you thinking about?"

"Something I said to her before I left this afternoon. For some reason it's bothering me."

She clicks off the TV. "What could you possibly have said to that bitch that would bother you?"

"I told her to go hell and take that little bastard with her. I was so angry and the words just came out. I didn't really mean it. It's not the baby's fault. Is it?"

"Don't you dare feel guilty about saying that, do you hear me, no one would ever think that you could or would harm a baby?"

A soft chuckle comes from him. "You know I always wanted to have a kid. But I never thought that its Mom would be the devil."

"We know how despicable Nicole is maybe it's not your child. I can imagine her getting off watching us go through hell for a few weeks."

"I just remembered something." He stands up and paces around the room. "Every other day or so she would live the house, she was gone for at least an hour or two maybe she was seeing someone."

The Next Day

Bobby hires his friend and lawyer Kenneth Oliver to handle any more dealings with Nicole. His first task is to set up a DNA test. A DNA test can be performed on a pregnant woman, however the woman must be 10 weeks pregnant. The results take 7 to 10 days. At the time of discovery, Nicole is 8 weeks along.

Sunday, Early Afternoon

They pull into the Carmel Ridge Center parking lot. "Wow this is really pretty."

"Is it? I don't notice it anymore."

He enters the center her hand in his. The receptionist greets him and he introduces Alex. He passes a nurse whom he has known for over five years. "Eve Jenkins, Alex Eames."

"Nice to meet you Eve."

She looks at Bobby. "You're partner, Alex."

"Yes."

"Well we've all heard a lot about you. It's very nice to meet you Alex."

Bobby taps Eve's shoulder. "What's the prognosis today?"

"She's a little tired, but not from her medication she's had a very busy weekend. The family of one of the residents' threw a birthday party for their son and everyone was invited. I didn't know your Mom was such a good dancer."

He smiles. "Like mother like son." Alex says smiling.

"Have a good visit Bobby, nice to meet you Alex, see you soon."

"Bye Eve. Thanks.

Photos do not do this woman justice. She is not as tall as Alex thought she would be. Her hair is gray but her face is very smooth, she looks younger than her seventy years.

Frances Goren is sitting in a chair with a book on her lap, her eyes are closed and she opens them when she hears the knock on the door. "Hey, Mom."

"Hi, Bobby." She looks past her son and smiles. "Hi, Alex."

Alex extends her hand and Frances stands up. "It's very nice to finally meet you."

"You also. I understand that my son has a tendency to drive you crazy."

"That's an understatement."

"Hey I'm standing right here." They both look at him and smile. He sits down.

Frances and Alex talked for almost an hour. Bobby barely says a word. Alex talks about her family and Frances, to her surprised inquired about her nephew, Matthew. She told her that she thought that was one of the most unselfish and beautiful gifts one sister could give to another.

"Mom." Bobby finally gets a word in. "Are you up to going out for lunch?"

"Yes. I am. That would be lovely. Give me a minute to change."

She grabs a dress from the closet and goes into the bathroom to change.

Alex looks over at him he has a look on his face that she hasn't seen for a few weeks. He looks very calm and contended. "Hey."

"What?"

She links her arm in his. "I'm glad I came here today. She's a very sweet woman."

He looks down at her and pulls her closer. "Thanks. I haven't seen her that happy in a long time."

Back To The City, Back to Reality

One Police Plaza

The results of the DNA test are due today.

Bobby's cell phone rings and he checks the number before answering. Alex looks up.

"It's Kenny." He exhales than answers the call. "Goren."

"Hey Bobby, it's Kenny. I just got the results in. I have the envelope in my hands. When can you come in?"

"Forget that open the envelope."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure."

"There is 99.99 percent chance that you are the father." Kenny pauses waiting for his friend to say something. "I'm sorry man, are you alright?"

"It's cool, thanks for calling Kenny, talk to you soon. Bye."

Later That Evening

Alex hands him a glass of wine. "Maybe we're wracking are brains for nothing and she'll terminate the pregnancy.

He has to laugh. "No. This is Nicole we're talking about, She'll have this baby. So she'll have a hold on me for the rest of my life."

"File for custody." Alex says very nonchalantly. He almost spits the wine out. "What?"

"File for custody?"

"Yes. You have every right to get custody of that baby." He stares at her as Alex casually sips her wine. She swallows.

"You want to raise Nicole's baby?"

"No. Not Nicole's baby, your baby, our baby."

"I'm not sure that I could look at this baby and forget who its mother is."

"Why not think of it as the one and only good thing that she ever did in her whole life."

"You're something you know that?"

One Police Plaza

"Bobby what are you doing here?"

"I work here."

"It's after five you'll be late for your appointment with Angela."

"I cancelled it for today."

"What? Why in the hell would you do that?"

"I'm not in the mood today."

"Not in the mood, what the hell does that mean?"

He stands up. "That means I don't want to talk about it. Now drop it. Ok."

She exhales as he walks past her.

Later That Night

"Do you think that was her plan?"

"I don't know. Probably."

"I just wish that one time in her life, Bobby, she could be honest and tell you the truth."

"Never. Nothing she likes better than having leverage on people."

"I like the fact that you are able to talk about this but you're missing one important point."

"Oh yeah. What's that?"

"You tell me."

Silence.

Alex takes a hold of his hand. "You have to say it. You might not remember but you know what she did."

For a second Alex thought that she had gotten through. Bobby suddenly gets up and leaves the room. She calls to him. "Bobby you have to face it"

Later In the Week

Bobby has not meet with Angela for three weeks. Alex was determined that he not miss another appointment she drives him there. He knew he was beat and he knew he had to go.

Angela's Office

"Bobby do you think that you'll say one word to me this afternoon. I know you're thinking about something, "Tell me what it is?"

"Nothing important."

"Bullshit."

He looks up at her in surprise. "It's your baby isn't it?"

He nods. "Yeah it's mine. I don't want it and I don't want anything to do with it."

"You're a terrible liar Bobby."

"I feel split in two. I think I would make a good Dad. However, this isn't the way it should be. This is wrong and in the law, I have absolutely no power what so ever to decide the fate of this child. He pauses to pour a glass of water.

"She used me." He stands up and starts to pace. Angela knows that when he starts to pace he usually comes to the point of what is on his mine. He turns toward the window. "I'll bet that she was taking fertility pills so she'd have a better chance at getting pregnant."

He puts his hands on the ledge of the window and bends down. "I want to remember but I don't. Fuck!" He exhales. "I have never hated anyone in my life. Never! But her." He turns to face Angela. "I could have killed her up there but I didn't. Christ I couldn't even treat her badly by denying her food. Goddamnit I'm a fucking whimp."

"No you're not. It takes a stronger person not to kill than to kill you know that." She can see tears start to fill in his eyes.

He doesn't respond he just nods his head. He turns back to the window and wipes his face. "The building is gone that was there last week. Did someone steal it?"

She laughs as she gets up to look. "I didn't even notice." She leaves him at the window and sits at her desk.

He stays quiet for a minute or two. Trying very hard to compose himself. Angela won't even offer him a tissue she stays in her chair.

"She took advantage of me. She was able to do whatever she wanted. She has no remorse for what she did to me."

He puts his hands on the back of his neck. "Oh God!" He starts to move back and forth. "She raped me! Goddamn her…… FUCK!" He steps back and with every ounce of strength he has, he hits the window. The sound startles Angela. She looks up as the window shatters.

He falls to his knees with his arms crossed. Angela walks over to him and grabs him by the shoulders. With his right hand, he grabs her arm. He looks up at her. "I think I broke my hand." She holds on to him as he stands up.

"That's a double paned window."

He looks at the big hole in the window and then at her. "Not anymore. Sorry."

"It's alright. It's just a window." She pats him on the back. "I'll send you the bill tomorrow."

He smiles as he sits down in the chair. "Well the knot in my stomach is gone. But my hand is killing me."

"I think you need a doctor and you shouldn't drive. Maybe you should call someone to take you."

"Alex dropped me off. She likes to shop in the stores in the neighborhood." Bobby checks his watch. "She's probably on her way up now."

Angela opens the door and Alex is just sitting down. Angela walks over to her. "Hi. You must be Alex. I'm Angela." She extends her hand. Alex stands up "Nice to meet you Angela."

She sees him slowly walk out of the room holding his hand. "What the hell?

"He was able to deal with some very important issues today but he put a hole through my window."

"Jesus Bobby." She walks over to him. "Are you alright? Does it hurt?"

"You could say that. I think it's broken."

Bobby's hand is defiantly broken. A cast on his hand and a few pain pills later the pain is gone and he's asleep.

Early The Next Morning

He wakes about three am and Alex is sitting up in bed reading a book. He tries to focus his eyes to see the time. "How come you're still awake?"

"I woke up about an hour ago and I couldn't fall back to sleep."

He points to his end table. "Take one of my pills. You'll sleep."

She smiles and caresses his cheek. "Is your hand hurting?"

"It's throbbing a little. When can I take another pill?"

Her hands her the bottle, "It says every four hours you took the last one about eleven." She opens the bottle. "Here you go, take two more, I'll get some water."

He sits up very slowly. "I have water here." He takes the pills. "What are you reading?"

She shows him the cover. "Hard Truth by Mariah Stewart. What's it about?"

"It's a murder mystery."

"You're a detective and you're reading a murder mystery?"

"Yeah. I like them. The story within the story is good."

He just nods his head. "So are you going to tell me why you really can't sleep?"

"Let's just say it's been a hell of a week."

"I know, I am so sorry about all of this."

"Bobby I know you are but none of this is your fault."

"Whose fault is it?"

Alex looks at him as if he's lost her mind. "What?"

"You say it's not my fault but that's all you ever say. Tell me exactly what you think of all this?"

"Not now."

"I don't want to debate with you, I'm too tired. But there is one thing I will say." He lies back down in the bed, "Who's avoiding the issue this time? It's not me."

TBC