It was a little after two when Mike was awoken by the baby monitor and the sound of Grace crying; he forced every muscle in his body to move from his bed and walking two doors down.
Mike sighed as he did finally sit up in bed; he has slept 7 hours, which was good for not having slept for 5 days straight.
He pushed the sheets away and began to make his way to Graces' room, only to find that he had been beat by his mother.
"Oh." Mike muttered, brushing away an eye boogie before approaching the both of them.
His mother felt Graces' diaper and smirked as she turned around and placed the newborn on the changing station.
"So I take it you've been changing her diapers?" his mother asked.
Mike nodded "Yes."
"And bottle feeding her?" his mother continued.
Mike nodded again "Yes."
His mother sighed, taking off the dirty diaper and tossing it in the bin before pulling another one out "And how long are you on leave?" she asked again.
Mike let a yawn out "6 weeks." He muttered.
His mother nodded, silently putting another diaper on Grace and put everything together before picking her up and holding her close.
"And then what happens when you go back to work?" she asked.
Mike shrugged "Probably hire a baby sitter." He said.
His mother scuffed "Oh, Michael! We'll watch her." She said.
"And that's nice of you, but no. I'll just hire a sitter…or get Ryan to watch her, he's getting pretty good at that." Mike said.
His mother shook her head "No, Mike. I will watch her…you don't have to do this alone!" she remarked.
"Maybe I want to!" Mike nearly hissed at his mother "Maybe I want it to just be Grace and me." He continued on.
His mother scuffed "Oh, yeah? Just the two of you, waiting for that tart to get out of prison; yeah, Mike, that's just grand!" she said.
Mike took Grace out of his mothers' arms "She isn't a tart! She's Graces' mother. And you know what—no, I'm not going to just wait around for Sarah to get out…Grace was born, and I moved on!" he snarled at her.
"I don't want to have this conversation at 2 in the morning—but I will! Just let it go mom, please, I beg of you!" Mike said, before taking Grace and walking out of the nursery with her.
It was a blessing when Mikes' parents finally left after a week of staying; Mike was on the couch while Grace was laid out on a quilt by the television.
Mike watched the news, listening to Grace 'talk' to the mobile that was above her; the news station discussing a possible Carroll sighting, and even though Mike didn't want to listen, he couldn't look away or change the channel.
Just thinking about Joe being out there scared Mike, and the more he thought about it the more dread began to dwell on him; he swallowed hard as he continued to listen intently when Grace began to cry out, distracting Mike from the news.
Mike stood up and looked over the coffee table at Grace, who immediately stopped crying once she saw her father.
"Oh, I see how it is." He muttered, walking across the coffee table and laying next to Grace and her mobile.
He looked up and continued to watch the rest of the coverage of the Carroll sighting, and then looked back down at Grace as he let her grab his index finger "I won't let him hurt you." He muttered to her.
Grace began to chew on his finger while Mike continued to look down at her; watching as her bright blue eyes glistened in the sun light, she looked remarkably like Sarah at that moment which infuriated him.
Mike was having a hard time comprehending how he could love someone so much that looked like someone he couldn't stand—who made his heart hurt just thinking about them.
"Gosh, your obnoxious." He muttered to Grace before letting a smile escape his lips, he looked over at a clock on the wall and huffed, then turning back to Grace.
"I don't know about you, but I'm hungry." He said, taking his finger back and picking Grace up off the floor and walking into the kitchen.
It had been a long day at work, Mike had been trying to keep up with paper work but it was no use after there was a shooting just outside of Richmond, he resented the little prick that started the whole conflict.
Grace, 6-months at this point, was fast asleep in her crib while Mike was sitting on the couch and taking a minute for himself before he gently closed his eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.
He awoke not long after, the lights still on throughout the entire downstairs but he had lost track of time, looking down at his watch while he yawned to find that it was just after midnight.
Mike hummed, stretching on the couch when he heard noises coming from the baby monitor that was on the dining table; the young agent huffed "Oh, Gracie, not tonight." He muttered.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine—you make me happy when skies are gray," a rigid voice sang into the baby monitor, alerting Mike as he got up from the couch and grabbed the baby monitor.
"You never know dear, how much I love you; please don't take my sunshine away!" the voice finished, a soft chuckle escaping his lips.
Mike brought the monitor close to his ear to make sure that he was hearing this correctly.
"I have a gift for you Grace," the British accent remarked "Hopefully, your daddy won't mind." The chilling voice of Joe Carroll remarked.
Mike dropped the baby monitor and grabbed his gun that he had placed on the kitchen counter as he walked into the house, quickly climbing up the stairs and aiming his gun ahead of him as he walked into the nursery.
He turned the light on, finding that no one was in there aside from Grace, who was sitting up in her crib; he sighed with relief as he put his gun in his back pocket and walked closer to the crib.
Grace reached out for him as he pulled her out of the crib, noticing something in her hands "What's that?" Mike asked, gently taking the object away from her.
It was a small teddy bear, nothing significant apart from the fact that Mike didn't remember anybody giving her that bear.
Mike huffed "Okay—okay, we're gonna call daddys' friends, okay? In the meantime, you're in the bassinet with daddy!" he remarked as he walked out of the nursery.