FBI agents swarmed his house completely; inside and out they searched for any evidence of Joe Carroll while Mike sat in the living room with Grace since it was obvious she wasn't going to be able to sleep with all the excitement going on.
He saw a familiar face approach him, Mike stood up with Grace as Agent Donovan nodded "You're sure Joe Carroll was here?" he asked.
Mike nodded "Yeah. He sang her a lullaby and then gave her that teddy bear I gave Henderson." He remarked.
Agent Donovan nodded at Mike before looking over at Grace who was giving him a fearful look "It's nice to finally meet you, Ms. Weston." He said, shaking Graces' hand with one of his fingers.
Grace hid in her fathers' chest, Mike sighed as he rubbed her back "Don't take it personally." He remarked.
"Oh, I won't." he said.
Two agents approached Donovan in the middle of the conversation with Mike, one had a case with him while the other just had on a pair of rubber gloved "We found some prints, it looks like he climbed in and out the nursery window. We got a task force out looking for him now. Maybe we'll get lucky." One of them said before turning to Mike.
"We're gonna need to examine her." The agent told him.
"Examine her?" Mike asked in shock.
The agent nodded "Yes, it's just procedural; it won't take very long." He assured Mike.
Mike grumbled, looking down at Grace; he knew how this was going to go down, he knew that once he handed her over to the agents she would begin crying and squirming like she always does with strangers.
"Maybe she'll be okay." Mike thought before he sighed, getting close to one of the agents who began the transfer of Grace.
Almost immediately, Grace began to squirm, panicking as she realized that the person holding her was not her father; Mike went up behind the agent and smiled at Grace "No, no, it's okay—I'm here." He said trying to comfort Grace.
It was no use, once the agents had taken Grace down the hall to start the examination, she began to cry and scream; he felt bad but the agents were only doing their jobs; plus he couldn't crowd them while they did.
Agent Donovan nodded, watching Mike stand nervously as he listened to Grace cry while the agents continued with the examination.
"I know they're my co-workers, but still…" Mike remarked, sitting on the arm of the couch.
Agent Donovan nodded "Oh, I know how that is. Enjoy her now, cause you'll blink and all of a sudden she'll be 15 and giving you an attitude." He said, almost chuckling.
"Is he trying to make me feel better?" Mike thought to himself as he just nodded at the comment.
Before long, Grace came back to Mike, still crying as he took her away from the agent and rocked her from side to side "It's okay, it's okay…" he whispered to Grace as he did.
The agents spoke to Agent Donovan who nodded at them before he turned back to Mike "Okay, we've got all that we need at this point; I'm going to have everyone vacate the premise and then you can get that one back to bed." He said, pointing a Grace before walking away.
"Thanks, Donovan." He said, continuing to sit on the arm of the couch as he watched all the agents file out of his house as easily as they filed in.
Weeks had gone by and nothing panned out, which made Mike feel uneasy as he got chills down his spine every time he remembered listening to Joe on the baby monitor.
Ryan had suggested that for the first time in 6 months, the both of them go out for dinner or something along those lines if only to keep his mind off of what had happened.
"Come on! Dudes night! It'll be fun!" Ryan said, trying to motivate Mike.
Mike huffed "I don't know, Ryan, I mean—I'll have to find a babysitter, and finding one last minute is always hard." He remarked.
Ryan scuffed "Oh, come on! You're a good looking guy, I'm sure one of the lonely housewives in the neighborhood would do it or your usual girl…I mean, she's always understand about your late nights when you do have them—which are rare enough, but still!" he said over the phone.
Mike smirks as he looked at Ryan "Okay, fine, I'll see what I can do. I'll ask Sandy if she can stay later tonight." He said.
"That's my boy! I'll see you at the bar at 5:30!" Ryan remarked before hanging up the phone.
Mike sighed, putting his phone down and looked around his desk at all the pictures of Grace that had accumulated over the past 6 months; he expected people to poke fun at him, but since the Carroll incident, people were less likely to comment unless it was a compliment.
"Forgive me, Gracie" he muttered to himself before going back to his paper work.
"When was the last time you had a day off—an actual day off? No getting called in or being sent home early, but the last time you had zero contact with the office for a 24 hour period?" Ryan asked, taking a sip of his club soda.
Mike shrugged "…when I was on leave, taking care of Grace." He muttered.
Ryan nodded "And you haven't had a day off since?" he asked.
Mike shook his head "No. I mean, I come home, and I pay the babysitter, feed Grace her dinner and then we're both in bed. I don't watch T.V. or surf the net…I just go to bed…and then I wake up, wait for the babysitter and then go to work." He said, explaining his cycle.
"You really have got to break that cycle. You're not a lone wolf anymore! You're a…dare I say it, a dad. You're a dad now." Ryan said, taking another sip.
Mike glared at Ryan before he took a sip of his beer "I know I am." He remarked.
Ryan nodded "Just—don't prove your mother right. Please. I beg of you. Neither of us want that!" he continued.
Mike flinched "Yeah and Sarahs' family isn't helping—I mean, like they are, but they're just waiting for me to fuck up so bad that they can snatch her away." He said.
Ryan shook his head "That's not going to happen. Despite your long hours, Grace comes first. You worked really hard to get that house, to pay for that nice nursery…you're not going to fuck it up….Grace, she might come out a little scathed, but she'll be okay." Ryan joked a little.
Mike hit Ryan "That's not even funny!" he said, letting a smile out.
Ryan smiled "But you and her, you two are going to be fine. And I'm here for you if you need anything. You know that, right?" he asked.
Mike nodded "Yeah. You're always here…even when I don't want you here." He said.
"Atta boy!" Ryan said, gently punching Mikes' arm.