CHAPTER 9
Mark hadn't been the one to leave the building and was likely closer to Max than he had been before their chase for the decoy. It was all working out in his favour.
"Get your team to the maternity ward now!" Ryan instructed Clarke. "Don't give him the chance to get to her."
Pulling out his phone, he text Mike, making him aware of the situation.
"Mark's in the building. I'm handling it, but be alert." The message read.
Mike checked his phone only when Max slumped back against him, regaining her breath in between pushes. He maintained his poker face as best he could, but he was sure Max could feel the quickened pace of his heart against her spine. If she had, she didn't say anything and though anxious, he decided it was best to keep her in the dark about the goings on outside of the room. She was having a difficult time with the labour as it was.
Unlike her niece however, Jenny had noticed the momentary lapse in Mike's composure. She too said nothing and instead, eyed him warily over the top of Max's head. Something was going on and she was certain it was the reason for Ryan's sudden departure.
"You're almost there, Max." The doctor coaxed, "just a few more pushes and the shoulders will be out."
Just? A few? "Ugh!" Max groaned as roughly as her waning energy would allow. It felt like she had been pushing for hours when in truth, it had only been twenty minutes. "I can't," she objected, squeezing her eyes shut.
"Max, you have to." Mike urged. "We got this far. Don't you dare give up now." He wouldn't coddle her. No. He found that, with Max, tough love worked best in motivating her. Besides, he daren't let her give in after everything they've been through to get to this point. He wasn't having any of it.
Max turns to stare at Mike, her hair tussled and her eyes heavy with lethargy. Though his words weren't particularly comforting, his gaze was softer than ever and the endearing depth of it was the rest of that which she needed to continue pushing.
She looked to her Aunt who was smiling brightly. She nodded in encouragement and it began again.
Her hands reconnected with Mike's, now able to hold on with all of the strength that remained within her. She could hold her focus the way they insisted that she should. And finally, she was again compelled to bear down on the constant waves of agony that were seemingly endless.
She pushed and pushed harder.
Then, with a final strangled lament, it was over. A shrill, reedy wail pierced the air and suddenly, there it was – there he was. He cried with all the intensity that was humanly possible.
Max glanced up at Mike then and the blue of their eyes locked: blood-shot and fatigued. He presses his lips to her temple as she reached for their son.
The midwife placed the baby in his mother's fatigued but eager arms.
"Look what we did." Max breathes, staring down at the little person she and Mike had made.
As Mike's eyes met his child's for the first time, he thought that perhaps miracles do happen. Sure, a baby may be born every minute, but that didn't mean each one was less of a miracle than the first.
As tears swell in his eyes, Max's own watered gaze meets his. "I love you." She mouths as Jenny coo's over the newborn. Mike smiles widely and kisses her with his reply.
He had been anticipating the moment since he found out he was to be a father.
Six and a half months earlier…
"Is Max okay? She hasn't been answering my calls all week." Mike asks Ryan over the phone one morning he was gone. In truth, Max had been rather cold to her husband since his departure two months prior. Not that he could blame her but recently, she seemed distant; distracted – it made him miss her snarky remarks.
"You should talk to her," is all that Ryan manages, bearing in mind that Max asked him not to tell Mike about the pregnancy. In point of fact, he was sure Max was dodging Mike's calls because she was afraid of telling him herself. Of course, he had a right to know and he would eventually, but what he was doing was important. Despite her wishes against it, she knew that and given her recent discovery, his pursuit was only that much more significant.
Mike groans. "I would if she picked up the damn phone!"
Ryan nods, but says nothing, keeping his tongue from flapping.
The younger man sighs heavily. "I miss her so much, especially at night." They are the worst part of the day for missing someone, Ryan agreed. It's a time where the distractions of the day have slipped away and all one is left with is thoughts and longings. Mike thought he might suffocate if he endured another night of insomnia.
"She misses you too." Ryan tells him.
"She does?" Of course, she does.
"Yeah." He nods, "she tries to hide it but… it's difficult not to notice when she's moping around, staring at pictures of you on her phone." It'd be funny if it wasn't so pitiful, "She even seems more aware of her wedding ring." Mike could imagine her, typing away at her computer – intent on finishing some work when the white gold of her ring catches a gleam of light, distracting her.
"Just give me one reason, Ryan. One reason and I'll book the first flight home."
Ryan chuckles nervously.
"What's funny?" asked Mike, curious to know why he was laughing. It wasn't a common occurrence, after all.
Ryan coughs, clearing his throat. "Huh? Oh, Never mind." He kicks himself for slipping up.
"Come on, man. I wanna laugh too." Mike urges.
The elder of the two sighs. He might as well tell him. He was surely going to face the wrath of his niece at some point or another. "Well, it's not so funny."
"Oh?"
"There is one reason for you to come home…" he trails off, still unsure.
Mike listens to silence for a moment, waiting for Ryan to continue. "Which is?" he presses.
"She's gonna kill me for this." He mumbles to himself before letting it out, "Max is pregnant."
"That isn't funny." Though taken aback, Mike replies instantly.
"I'm not joking." Ryan confirms.
A silence ensues. All Ryan could hear on the other end was typing and the clicking of a mouse.
"Mike?"
"I'll be at JFK in about four hours." He tells Ryan eventually. "Don't tell Max, since she likes to keep secrets." The tone he ends the call on isn't an elated one, rather emotionless and determined.
He appears the same way when Ryan picks him up at the airport four hours later. Not a word is spoken on the drive to his and Max's apartment.
Present Day
"I'm going to kill Ryan." Max curses. "Where the hell is he?" She demands, handing the baby to his father. Mike remembers she had said the same thing that night he suddenly appeared at the threshold after two and a half months of being gone.
"I'll go see if I can find him." Jenny offers.
"No!" Mike objects. He couldn't let her leave the room - Mark and whoever else was sure to be killing anyone in their path.
Max's brow furrows in confusion. "What do you mean 'no'?" She asks. "Where is he, Mike?" After three years of knowing her, Mike knew what that tone meant and it meant to tread carefully, because she was sure to know if he was lying.
When he opened his mouth to speak, Ryan appeared. "Hey, what'd I miss?" He starts, stepping into the room to find his niece's anger directed toward him. She glared daggers at him and he mused, Jeez! If looks could kill.
That's when he noticed the bundle of blue in Mike's arms. "A boy?" He asks softly. Jenny nods proudly, her arm around Max's shoulders.
Ryan approaches Mike, peering down at the newest addition to the Hardy clan. "He's perfect." He admires, just as he had done upon meeting Max that first time. Yes. The boy was just as perfect as his mother.
"What do we call him?" Ryan asks, offering his finger to his 'nephew' to grab with his tiny hands.
Mike and Max exchanged looks. His questioning; hers confirming with a smile.
"Henry." Mike affirmed, his eyes glued to his son, not willing to let him go just yet.
"Henry Richard." Max adds, surprising Mike with the middle name.
They had discussed naming him after her father earlier that day, but Max had Mike's father's name in mind throughout the entire pregnancy. She knew what it would mean to Mike to have their son named after both of his Grandfathers.
Ryan and Jenny too were happy with the couple's choice. They only wished their brother could be there to meet his Grandson.
"He's here," Max offers into the silence, having noticed the regretful expressions on her Aunt and Uncle's faces. "He never left." She claims. She liked to think so growing up – it helped to believe that he was.
Ryan approaches Max, hugging her gently and kissing her forehead. "Of course, he is."
"So? Where were you?" Max demands, certainly not letting it slide.
He considers telling her the truth but, as it was, I didn't matter and she needn't worry about it. "It's over now." He promises and when she opens her mouth to object, he shakes his head. She knew he'd tell her if she needed to know.
Mike however, wasn't as easily subdued. He reluctantly hands the baby to Jenny before turning to Ryan, beckoning him out into the hallway.
Max watches warily as the two men leave, unsettled.
"It's over?" Mike asks.
"He's still in the building but this ward is secured." Ryan confirms. "They'll find him, Mike."
Mike wouldn't say anything more on the matter. He could go out himself and help in the search for Mark, but he wouldn't be parted from his wife – not now. Ryan left again to join Agent Clarke, he wasn't going to wait around helplessly while his niece's life was threatened.
A nurse came into the room when Max was finished nursing for the first time. "Hi, I'm Sally. I'll just take him down to the nursery for a little while." She greets. "Give mommy and daddy a rest." Mike didn't object for he knew the nursery was in the same ward and he'd be safe. Max was too tired to argue and the let Sally do her job.
Jenny excused herself to get some snacks, leaving the new parents alone.
Max turned onto her side, mindful of the remaining bump at her middle. Mike settled in the chair beside the bed, his hand in her hair with his free one holding hers. "You did it." He remarks softly, toying with her wedding ring as her eyes drift shut to sleep.
…
"I have him." Mark listens to the wet-nurse Sally tell him over the phone.
"A boy then?" Luke sneers, "Perfect."
He reaches the top of the stairwell leading into the maternity ward. Through the window in the door he could see armed guards waiting for him should he attempt to elude them. "There's no way in." Sally tells the twins over the call. "I had a tough time getting out."
Luke curses, fisting his hand and punching it into the wall. Mark rubs his reddened knuckles. "We have the baby. He'll have to do."
"That wasn't the plan! Max has to die for Mike to suffer!" Luke argues, frustrated that it wasn't going his way.
"Do you wanna die?!" Mark counters. "Because I don't!" He concludes, "Sally, we'll meet you in the car." And he ends the call, taking the upper-hand for once and retreating back downstairs and out of the hospital while the authorities searched elsewhere.
…
Ryan met his sister on his way back to the room. She clocked his receiver and questioned him. "What's going on, Ryan? Is that Gray boy here?"
"We can't find anywhere. He likely left when he realised he couldn't get to Max." Ryan tells her. "Agents are surveying CCTV footage right now."
They come upon the room to find both Mike and Max asleep. Mike had his head on the mattress beside Max whose hand had netted itself in his hair. "How'd she do?" the elder of the siblings inquired.
"Wonderfully." Jenny marvelled, "Ray would be proud."
Ryan hugs his sister tightly, thankful that he has her, Max and now baby Henry. "We should go see him. A nurse took him down to the nursery." said Jenny.
"What?" Ryan starts, suddenly alert, "I specifically told the nurses on this ward to keep him with Max." He runs to the desk, slamming his fist down to grab the woman's attention. "Who took the baby from that room?" he demanded, pointing to Max's room.
"No one, sir." The startled girl replied. "You told us not to."
"Her name was Sally." Jenny adds, hoping there had been some misunderstanding.
The girl shook her head. "There's no Sally working here."
No.
It couldn't have been.
Ryan wasted no time and ran down to the nursery in hopes that he was there. He barged into the room filled with infants who had started crying in response to the sudden noise. He read each name tag on the cots and found no child of Weston-Hardy.
He was gone.