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Chapter Twenty

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Derek Morgan was just coming through the hospital's main entrance when Rossi stalked out with a face like thunder, not even noticing the other man.

"Rossi?" When the other man didn't break his pace or even look back, Morgan hesitated for a moment and then turned and jogged out after him. "Rossi, man, wait up!"

"What do you want, Morgan?" Dave snapped when Morgan caught up to him.

"What's going on? If looks could kill, you'd have just taken out half this block with your laser vision."

Dave deflated. "I don't know if I can talk about it…"

Morgan grabbed him gently by the arm. "Why don't we get some coffee? You can talk about it, or just chill out. Totally up to you."

Rossi didn't agree or disagree, but he fell in beside Morgan as the other man made for a diner at the corner of the intersection. Once they were sitting down at a booth, Rossi told Morgan about the affidavit, but not about his reaction.

"That's rough, man. I can't imagine how that makes you feel, other than it must be crappy, but I get why he had to ask."

"Are you kidding? So he doesn't get this job - "

"Okay, first off, don't dismiss this job!" Morgan said, pointing a finger. "He's already lost out on going to Africa, he doesn't need to lose anything more because of the accident. He wants this job! I didn't realize how much until I visited him the other day, but he does want it and he damn well deserves it.

"Second, this isn't just about one job, it's about every job. It's about his whole life, for God's sake! Sure, the foundation was looking into the matter because they head-hunted the Kid and want him to work for them, and his passport being in question affects whether or not they can take him, but it isn't limited to that. The job isn't the thing causing the problem. Dave, think about it! Why is his passport invalid? Because his birth certificate is. Which likely also affects his Social Security. The point is, the Kid doesn't have one damn form of valid I.D, which means he can't apply for pretty much any job, overseas or not, unless we're talking about some restaurant dishwasher getting paid under the table kind of deal. He probably can't even use his driver's licence, because you need at least two valid forms of I.D. to even take the test, so now that's no doubt invalid too.

"Then there's the bureaucratic shit-storm that's about to hit him. Because of a mere four days difference in date of birth and two wrong names put down as his parents, for all we know he's going to have to prove he's an American citizen and not some terrorist with a fake I.D. Hell, the Bureau could even go after him, claiming he misrepresented himself! Though I suppose he could counter and ask why the heck they didn't find all this out when they ran their background checks, but with his luck, that would just get him into more trouble.

"And third: what about his Mom? Every medical and financial arrangement he's made on her behalf is based on the fact that he's her son. If that's no longer legally true, what then? Who calls the shots for Diana? Are you really going to risk her long-term care over this? End up leaving all the decisions up to William Reid or the Kid's aunt? Ask yourself what kind of woman leaves her ill sister and ten-year-old nephew to fend for themselves. Do you want leave Reid and his mom relying on her best wishes? Do you think she's going to foot Diana's bills when Reid can't get a job?"

"Christ, why can't his father help out for once in his goddamned worthless life?" Rossi snapped.

"Do you hear what you just said?"

"What?"

"You're his father too, Rossi. Yeah, Diana should be William Reid's responsibility, but why don't you help your kid out by pulling your head out of your ass? Look, I get that you're angry and frustrated, but he can't afford to play nice with your feelings over this. He said it at the party: he's got a dependent. We all forgot that, but it's true. And unlike Jack and Henry, Diana's not going to ever grow out of it. At least the odds are severely against it, which means Reid will be supporting her for the rest of her life. So if that affidavit lets him avoid wrangling with lawyers for the next five years, then I say you should suck it up and sign the thing, because he's gotten enough goddamned grief from other people over the course of his life. He sure as hell doesn't need more!

"And I'll tell you one more thing: Rossi, man, if you're going into this, you've got to go into it whole hog. Nothing half-assed, you know what I'm saying? I do get what you meant before about William Reid needing to help out, but if you're going to be his father, then be his father. His problems are your problems. You don't have to solve them for him, be you do have to be prepared to be there, mentally as well as physically. Cause otherwise, you'll just end up hurting him when he needs you the most."

Rossi rubbed a weary hand over his face; he felt lower than a snake's ass in a wagon rut. "Morgan…I threw a book at him."

"What?"

"I didn't mean to. I just got mad. I know that's no excuse, but now I'm wondering if I can be a good parent."

"Dave, for Pete's sake, don't be an idiot! You're a good, decent man and you've got a brain in your head. Throwing a book doesn't change that, so don't use that as an excuse to cop out now."

"You don't get it - "

"I do, Rossi. But even the best parents can slip up at least once. My mother once broke a wooden spoon over my arm. She didn't mean to hit that hard, but I was three and being a brat and Sarah had the flu and Mom was six months gone with Desi. And yeah, that's no excuse, but she cried for a week after she did it and never touched me again. Besides, Reid's thirty-two damn years old! This happens again, he's got the ability to walk out. Okay, not right now, but you know what I mean."

"This wasn't about a three-year-old being a brat and a parent at the end of their rope. This was a man making a perfectly reasonable request and I - "

"Was a human being. So you threw a book at the Kid. You threw a punch at me when we were in Seattle."

Rossi opened his mouth to protest, then started to laugh. "Awww, are you feeling left out because Daddy has a favourite?"

Morgan leaned back and let out a huge belly laugh, not giving a damn at all the other patrons turning to stare at him. "Well, now that you mention, Dave, it does feel a little unfair. Is keeping Pretty Boy's face beautiful more important than preserving these fine features?" he asked, rubbing an appraising hand over his chin.

Dave buried his face in his hands. "Oh, God!" he moaned. "What have I gotten myself into?"

"Parenthood, man. Parenthood."

-x-

Rossi was there to visit Spencer first thing the next morning. The first words out of his mouth were, "I'll sign whatever you need me to, Spencer. And I'm sorry for how I acted."

"Dave, you don't have to be sorry. Do you have any idea how much I didn't want to have to ask you? But I had to. I have my Mom to - "

Rossi held up a placating hand. "It's okay, Spencer. I understand."

"Do you? Because I'm not asking you to forgive Brenda Lindsey and her daughter. This has nothing to do with them. It's solely about whether or not you can accept that my parents acted in good faith when they adopted me, and whether you can accept that adoption as being legal. I... I know it must be difficult. I wouldn't want to accept it either if the positions were reversed. Even if it's over and done with, and nothing can change it, to just gloss over what happened..."

Rossi considered it. The truth was, it was difficult not to blame the Reids, at least a little. If Diana had realized sooner that she wasn't fit to raise a child, or if they had tried a proper adoption agency, or if William Reid had insisted on getting more information out of Janine Rutherford… hell, if the man had just missed stumbling on the little bitch crying in a supply closet, then the temptation for Janine to steal another couple's baby wouldn't have been there.

But had the Reids actually connived to steal that child? Did he honestly and truly believe they meant to commit a crime? He would never really know for sure, and that was hard to live with, but he couldn't quite believe that they had. It was tempting to dismiss Diana's culpability due to her illness, or even just that Spencer loved her so much, but what really persuaded Rossi was that - despite her being more than intelligent and strong-willed enough to commit such a crime - he had always believed Spencer's moral center came from his mother. It was hard to conceive of someone with as much integrity as this young man not getting it from somewhere, or that that sense of integrity could flourish in a home without it. William Reid was another story, but as much as Rossi was tempted to hammer his fist into the man's face for the things he'd done to Spencer (the fact that he'd taken Rossi's son, and then thrown away that gift by abandoning him, could and never would be forgiven), he had to admit that the older Reid was probably not a purposely malicious man, just a terribly cowardly one.

Then David Rossi looked at his son and realized that none of that mattered. It wasn't just the practical matters being cleared up that Spencer needed. He needed to believe his parents, the people who shaped him into the man he was, were essentially good people. And he also needed things settled, and for there to be some sense of normalcy returned to his childhood.

"Yeah, Kid, I understand." Dave reached over and gave the nape of Spencer's neck a gentle squeeze. "I more than understand," he said, his voice raspy. "This whole thing is one hell of a mess, but trust me, we're going to fix it!"

A tired but grateful smile illuminated Reid's face in a way Dave had never seen before and at that moment he wondered how he ever could have missed the resemblance between Spencer and Carolyn.

"Dave, are you all right? You have a strange look on your face."

"Yeah, I'm okay. Your expression just then though, it reminded me so much of your mother."

"Oh," Spencer said softly. "Dave?"

"Yes?"

"Would...would you tell me about her?"

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I wasn't sure whether or not to post this because it's much shorter than most of my other chapters, and I worried it might throw the pacing off, but somehow it felt like it should be separate from the next chapter. Anyway, hopefully the quick update makes up for any jarring quality.