A little later than I thought I'd get this out, but then again, I had choir rehearsals tonight. And ended up spending the majority of the afternoon discussing possible side effects to drugs I intend on including in my original fiction with Shreek. Aaanyway. Go ahead and read.

Chapter 17

At ten to seven in the morning, still rubbing sleep from our eyes, Matias, Eduardo and I entered the comm. floor and headed straight for the break room. We were all dressed and the boys had their bags packed for the day at school, but there just wasn't enough time for breakfast before Carlos was herding us out the door. He'd promised to delay Brodie in security checks to allow me time to eat something before meeting with him.

"Mat," I called forward as the boys hurried ahead. "Bowls, spoons, cups. Edi, Froot Loops, milk, juice." They were already retrieving their items when I swung into the room. I pointed to the first Merry Man to enter my line of vision. "Coffee, stat. In an IV if possible."

I wheeled myself over to the table where Edi stood on a chair, pouring cereal into bowls. He passed them to his brother – who also stood on a chair – as he finished for the milk to be added. Some milk sloshed out as Mat then slid the first full bowl toward me before moving to the next. As quickly as the spill appeared on the table, it was mopped up as simultaneously set a mug of steaming coffee beside my bowl. He then moved to fill the boys' cups with juice.

"Ranger called ahead," he informed me, making sure the boys had napkins tucked into their shirts to save their clothes. "I've been assigned to watch Mat and Edi until oh eight hundred at which time Cal and I are to transport them to school and ensure they arrive safely at their classroom." I nodded my agreement, shovelling a spoonful of cereal into my mouth.

"God," I said around my full mouth. "Is there anything he can't do? He got more done while I was in the shower than I get done in the entire first half of the day." Not only had he called the office to give marching orders, he'd also coaxed the boys from their beds, ensured they got dressed, made their lunches, cleaned the kitty litter, made sure the boys fed Toaster and organised himself for the day – including his own breakfast. All that had been left to do by the time I out and dressed was tying the boys' shoelaces. And I hadn't even washed my hair!

Mat and Edi were giggling, milk trailing down their chins. "Mommy, don't talk with your mouth full," Edi admonished.

"Grandma says only heathens talk with their mouths full," Mat added, nodding his head, sending his crazy curls bobbing in all directions.

I swallowed my food with a roll of my eyes. "Grandma also says that none of us will ever get cookies from her again if turn up with grass stains on our knees one more time," I pointed out. "And we did." With that settled, I returned to scoffing down my breakfast so that I could get on with the day.

*o*

"Let's not beat around the bush," Carlos began when we were all seated, by which I mean Carlos and Brodie had taken a seat, since I was already in my chair. "We're here because of the crossword. I had been harbouring suspicion that you were a threat to Stephanie and by extension my family and my company." He paused letting that sink in a moment before continuing. "The crossword you shared with my wife contains many references to her life."

"They all refer to my life," I murmured, correcting him.

Brodie's expression was shocked. "Reference to yer life?" he asked, like he hadn't heard Carlos properly. "What do ye mean? I understand the clue I solved this morning, but what about the rest of 'em?"

Carlos retrieved a piece of paper from the cargo pocket of his pants and handed it to me. I knew what it was going to be before I even began unfolding it. The crossword solutions. He said nothing, but I knew he was expecting me to explain each reference. I cleared my throat and began at the top.

"Trenton," I read out, glancing up at the men. "I don't think I need to explain that one." Carlos gave a slight shake of his head in agreement with me, so I moved to the next. "Explosion." Pausing, I tried to think of the best way to explain that one. "Uh. I have a tendency to... That is to say that my cars tend to blow up on me."

"He knows that one too," Carlos put in. "It's how you met."

"Right," I agreed. "Um. Plum. That's my maiden name. Car. That's to do with the explosions. Bounty Hunter. That's what I was before the kids. Babe. Carlos's pet name for me. Black. That's obviously a reference to Carlos's uniform colour choice. Bombshell." I glanced up, embarrassed to say the meaning of that clue.

"She was dubbed the Bombshell Bounty Hunter after a series of unfortunate misshaps years ago. The men still call her Bombshell or Bomber, but it's affectionate now, rather than derogatory," Carlos filled in for me, doing a much better job than I could have.

"Hungarian," I read out, moving quickly on so that Brodie didn't have a chance to comment. "I'm of Hungarian descent on my mother's si-."

"My Da told me that my mother was of Hungarian descent," Brodie interrupted, seeming to seize on this fact like a light beacon on a cold, dark, stormy night. His blue eyes were bright. "Could he have bin leadin' me te ye? Do ye think ye might ken me mother?"

I couldn't meet his eyes. Little snippets of conversations were blasting through my thoughts, trying to help me piece something together, but I seemed to be missing a few pieces. Carlos and Bobby suspected Brodie and I might be related. So it was entirely possible, based on this assumption, that I might know his mother. But there was something hinky about it all. My Spidey Senses were tingling in overdrive.

There was a knock on the door, saving me from having to respond right away.

"Enter," Carlos called, and Bobby stepped into the room.

"I have the res-."

At that moment a bagpipe music rang out from somewhere in the room. Brodie fumbled around, trying to retrieve what I assumed was his cell phone from his pocket, casting us apologetic looks. "Sorry," he muttered. "Thought I put it on vibrate." Finally, he pulled the device into the open and took in the screen with a groan. "I should take this. Hello?"

"Feel free to step into the hall," I assured him, gesturing to the door. "We'll wait."

The moment he was out of the room, Bobby lay the file in his hands flat on the desk before us. I scanned the page, taking in the medical jargon and scientific terms and not bothering to even attempt to read through it.

"What am I looking at here?" I asked Bobby.

"The DNA results," he replied at once, pulling a seat out to sit down. He looked to Carlos, seeming to have a question in his eyes, so I looked to my husband, trying to figure out the answer he was sending to his medic. Obviously, I failed. "We've determined that there is a high possibility that you and Brodie are related.

I laid my hand on Carlos's thigh, drawing his gaze to my own. "What aren't you telling me, Carlos?"

He sighed heavily, covering my hand with his and squeezing gently. A vaguely nervous feeling began to bubble in my stomach, threatening to develop into nausea at the slightest provocation. Something told me that Carlos's next words would be life changing. He turned to face me fully, tucking a curl behind my ear as he did so. "Babe," he started, causing my chest to tighten as my heart skipped a beat. His gaze was locked on mine. "We didn't have the lab guys test Brodie's DNA against yours." I nodded warily. "We tested it against your Mom's."

Air gushed out of me like my lungs were balloons that had just come into contact with a needle. I hadn't been expecting that. Sure, He'd told me they suspected he might be related to me, but I thought maybe a cousin or something along those lines. If they were testing my mom's DNA against his, didn't that mean they suspected he was my brother? That my mom was his mom? Lights danced before my eyes for a long moment as I considered this.

"Breathe, Babe," Carlos instructed gently. "Hear us out." He began massaging the fleshing part of my palm just below my thumb to help calm me down. "Bobby?"

As my vision cleared, I turned my gaze to the man in question, waiting for an explanation.

"We figured that if Brodie was related to you, his mother would most likely be in your mother's generation of the family, given that he is between your age and your mother's" he began. "So we thought our results would be more accurate if we used a sample of her DNA rather than yours, as it would not have been... diluted by your father's DNA."

"Right," I breathed, staring almost blankly at him as I processed the information. "And the verdict is..."

"Nothing is one hundred percent without his father's DNA to compare to, but we think he may be your brother."

Stunned. That's probably the best word to describe my state of being at that very moment. Maybe, shocked would do the trick. I gaped at the two men sitting before me. If Brodie was my brother that meant... the two of you are more alike than you think... Oh, God! My mother was Brodie's mother. Mom had had an affair in her teens, gotten pregnant and then... I tried to recall Brodie's tale. Grandma and Grandpa had dumped the infant on the guy and sent him packing. How horrible! And...

I blinked hard.

"Grandma Mazur wouldn't have sent the baby away with the man," I announced firmly. "She's not like that." I locked eyes with my husband. "Tell me you think Grandma would be capable of such a thing," I dared. "You've seen her with the boys and with Val's kids. She's incapable of doing such a thing."

"What about your grandfather?" Bobby asked. "Would he?"

I thought back to all the loving memories I had of Grandpa Mazur, trailing him around his home as I had my own father, cuddling into him as he read me bedtime stories that were just vaguely inappropriate for a seven year old girl. I knew he was protective of his family – Daddy informed me of the little heart to heart he'd been made to endure out in the back shed when Mom had taken him to dinner for the first time – but I thought that if push came to shove, the baby would have come under that protection, rather than being cast away.

I shook my head just as the door opened again and Brodie re-entered. "Sorry," he apologised. "My ex-wife. Our daughter's staying with her while I'm away and she appears to have run away from home. Again. I gave her a list of -." He paused, taking in the three of us. "Am I interrupting?" he asked cautiously. "I can go back out if you need a bit more time?"

Carlos stood from the table, giving my hand one last squeeze before stepping away toward Brodie. "I think we're done here," he informed him, extending his hand for a shake. "Thank you for coming in. Stephanie and I will talk to her family and see if we can't uncover a lead to finding your mother." Carlos motioned for Bobby. "Bobby will lead you out. We'll be in touch soon."

Before anyone says anything. I consider myself in no way an expert on medical/sciencey stuffs, so all that DNA stuff was completely fudged. I apologise if my theories are wrong. Just accept them as fact for the sake of the story and we can all be blissfully ingnorant together.

Oh yeah, and don't forget to review.