Roots and Seeds

a Law and Order: CI story

by RoadrunnerGER

Disclaimer: Dick Wolf still has not agreed to sell them, so they're not mine. This is just for fun and practice.

A/N: Thank you for your nice reviews. It makes me happy that you like it. I'll try and post this story as Advent Calendar like I did with Australian Christmas Greetings last year. Let's see how it continues. ;) Enjoy.

Chapter 2

Mike Logan was not really sure what he was going to do when he arrived where Bobby had sent him to. It was a motel in Brooklyn, room 33, from which the second three was missing on the door. When he found the right door between room 32 and 34 he heard a woman moan. Mike was about to knock when she screamed, so he forgot about knocking and just tried the handle, bursting inside where he found the slender blonde on the bed, writhing in pain and clutching at her swollen stomach.

Panic gripped Mike's heart as he saw her lay in her own blood. She seemed to have lost a lot of it. The covers were soaked in red.

Getting out his cell phone he called dispatch and told them to order a bus. Then he rushed to Nicole's side.

"Bobby?" she groaned as she felt his hand on her sweat glistening forehead.

"No, it's Mike Logan," he told her.

"Where's Bobby? I need him. His baby's comiiiiinng!" Her sentence ended in a renewed scream.

Mike was at a loss. He had no idea what he was supposed to do other than holding her hand and murmuring reassurances until the bus arrived. Hopefully they would come soon. In the meantime he could only watch how Nicole was tortured by labor cramps. She was tossing her head from side to side and tried to squirm away from the agony without success. Her hand gripped Mike's hard, so hard that he thought she might break a finger or two.

Then the arrival of the medics saved him. Unceremoniously they pushed him aside to go and tend for their patient. Nicole was weak. When they lifted her on the stretcher she did not appear lucid. She did not even writhe in labor. She just lay there and let it happen.

"What's wrong with her?" Mike asked concerned.

"The baby's not lying right," a medic told him. "We can't turn it here and now. She'll have a C-section at the hospital."

Mike frowned at him. "But she'll survive, right?"

"I don't know. She lost a lot of blood."

"And what about the baby?" Now Mike was close to a panic again.

"We'll do what we can, but we probably won't be able to save either of them." He pushed Mike aside again. "And now we have to hurry. Go on, Brian."

And with that the medics pushed the gurney out of the motel room to the waiting ambulance. The doors closed and Mike could only stare at the rear lights and listen to the siren as it drove off the motel's parking lot.

xXx

At the same time Bobby was holding Alex's hand. She lay on a hospital bed and was pushed toward the labor ward. Unlike Nicole she was not writhing with pain. Actually she felt quite well. She wondered if that birth would be as unspectacular as delivering her nephew.

Being surrogate mother for her sister, the same one Bobby had hired for caring for her, had been a wonderful experience and she loved Neal with all of her heart. But being pregnant with her and Bobby's love child was a completely different matter. She looked so forward to holding her son in her arms.

Looking up at Bobby she smiled lovingly. There was the man she loved and soon they would be a real family.

Well, maybe we should get a dog, she thought, oddly, and had to chuckle.

"What's on your mind, love?" Bobby asked.

"I was wondering if we should get a dog, Bobby," she told him seriously. "A golden retriever maybe? I like them. They're very friendly dogs and do very well with children."

Bobby could just stare at her in disbelief. She was in labor and all she thought about were dogs?

"Yes, Bobby, I'm serious," Alex chuckled. "Think about it. I love golden retrievers. I'm sure you'll love her, too."

Bobby was perplexed. She seemed to have thought that matter through in only seconds. Now she also made clear that the dog was supposed to be female. Well…

"You said that you want to come along for the birth, right, Mr. Goren?" a nurse suddenly demanded his attention.

"What?" Shaken out of his thoughts he did not catch what the nurse said.

"I asked if it is correct that you want to be present for the birth, Mr. Goren," she repeated.

"Oh, yes! Of course!" he blurted out.

"Okay, then please slip that gown on," she said, holding it for him as he put it on. "There you go. Now you can accompany your wife."

He smiled at her so heartwarmingly that she wished, just for a second, that he was not already married to the petite blonde in the labor ward. She sighed.

Bobby did not notice her regret and hurried after Alex who already was inside. His heart beat in his throat and his stomach rumbled as if a herd of elephants were tap dancing inside of it. The image reminded him of Walt Disney's Phantasia and the ostriches, hippos, elephants and crocodiles dancing ballet to La Joconde. It was one of his favorite movies. He loved the way the Disney artists had transformed the classic music into pictures.

"Bobby?" Alex shook him out of his reverie. "No time for daydreaming!"

Her labor had advanced so she was having regular contractions in shorter intervals now. Soon the baby would come.

Bobby shuddered with anxiety and excitement.

The minutes did not seem to pass at all as he waited for the birth to start. So he was almost beside himself when a nurse announced that she could see the head crown.

From where Bobby stood beside Alex, holding her hand with his left hand and his right arm wrapped around her back to support her, Bobby craned his neck to see, but the covers draped over Alex blocked his line of sight.

"It's almost there!" the nurse yelled. "Just push! Push now! And don't forget to breathe! Yes! That's it! Push again…!"

Alex cried out with pain and exertion.

And then, suddenly, the cry of life filled the labor ward.

Bobby's delighted grin spread over his whole face, the corners of his mouth tickling his earlobes. Alex clung to his left arm and cried. So he bent down to kiss first her cheek then her mouth. He was so proud of her. And he loved her so much.

A nurse held the little bundle of human being and after the boy was cleaned up and wrapped in a blanket she gave him to Alex.

"Hello!" Alex cooed. "Welcome to the world Ronny Lee Goren."

Her broad smile lit up the room like a super nova as she beamed up at Bobby before she kissed him.

"He's perfect," Bobby whispered. He was in awe.

"Yes, he is."

xXx

Mike sat in the waiting area at the hospital and twiddled his thumbs. Nicole still was in surgery and so far no one could tell him what was going on with her. That it took so long was not a good sign. It was not the first time that Mike had to wait in a hospital, though he never waited for a woman giving birth.

Having a C-section, he reminded himself. I hope she'll be okay. It would be a pity if she would steal herself out of the responsibility for the murders she committed. She belongs in prison and she can't be tried if she doesn't survive.

And the baby… If it really is Bobby's baby? He should have a paternity test.

No, don't think about that now. It's none of your business, really. It's completely Bobby's decision if he wants to know… but I'm sure he'll want to know.

Another gurney was pushed by. The victim of a car accident, Mike thought, judging by what he could catch with the glimpse of the woman he got.

So much blood. Mike was fed up with blood. He thought he could still smell it and maybe he did. There was blood on his jacket and pants. Nicole's blood.

Mike hated hospitals. Whenever he had to be in one he was either waiting for someone who got shot or otherwise wounded or he was injured himself. So being at a hospital was nothing he ever looked forward to.

I guess the only people who like being here are the nurses and doctors, Mike mused. The halls were busy as an ant hill. It seemed to be complete chaos. Still the ants in the busy heap knew where to go and what to do.

"Sir?" A young man in scrubs stopped in front of Mike. "I'm Dr. Dempsey. Are you here for Miss Wallace?"

"Yeah," Mike said. "Detective Logan. How is she?"

"We successfully performed a C-section. The baby is alive and well. A little girl. Miss Wallace, though, is a different story."

"Yeah? Why?"

"We had to induce an artificial coma. She has lost a lot of blood and is quite weakened. The next forty-eight hours will be critical."

"But the baby is okay?"

"Yes. She's healthy and well developed. Weakened by the difficult labor, but otherwise okay."

"Okay."

Mike took a deep breath. He was glad for Bobby that the baby, the little girl, would be alright.

What if Nicole doesn't make it? Mike wondered. And if Bobby really is the father? Would he want to claim custody? Now that Alex is pregnant, too? Would he want to do that to her? Ask her to raise the child of his arch enemy?

Mike decided that he should stop such crude thoughts. Two uniformed officers arrived and Mike used the opportunity to leave and go home. He needed to get out of those filthy clothes. He needed a shower. He needed food.

And maybe he could get an hour or more of sleep before he had to be on duty again.

tbc…