Sorry it's been awhile but I really struggled with this chapter. It was originally only 4 pages long and I hated it. So I sat for a few days and pondered over how to make it better. I listened to a ton of Train, Maroon 5, the Script, and the Fray and finally I got it down. I really like it and I hope you do too! :)

Thank you, thank you, thank you to: Mrz Letty Ortiz-Toretto, Rue Dawn, nathansprincess, matthotty101, VincesDirtyGirl, xsparklesthemagicalunicornx, and bizchelc! Ya'll are awesome!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Alex, Mickey, Ronnie, and Eddie

Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 62: Isn't It Obvious?

By: LoveInk

Alex rushed into the hospital room not at all surprised to see Jesse already standing by Leon's hospital bed. The younger man held out his hand to her and she eagerly took it into her own. "What's the deal, J-man?" she asked softly.

"I dunno. I just got here," he murmured in response, digging his free hand under his beanie to scratch at his head. "He was on his way here 'cause of the baby and he crashed the Skyline."

"I heard about the crash." A car crash. Leon had gotten into a car crash. The idea of it was absurd. Leon didn't get into car crashes. He was the best driver of all of them. Hadn't he seen the green light turn red? Why hadn't he stopped? "You okay, Jess?"

Jesse shrugged, his face was pale. "I just…I got the call and it was just like when Ess got into her accident and then I get here and he's just lyin' here and it's just what happened to Ess…only she looked a lot worse, Als. I mean, Ess had road rash just…everywhere," he explained, swallowing hard. "But she was still beautiful. And she was breathing and holding on and everyone said she'd be fine and then…she wasn't."

Alex squeezed his hand, looking up at him and feeling tears spring to her eyes when she saw one slip down his cheek. "Oh Jess…"

"But Lee's going to be fine. Right?" Jesse interrupted, looking down at her with hope shining in his blue eyes. "He's barely got a scratch on him and the nurse said he had no internal stuff, right? That's what got Ess. But Lee doesn't have that. He'll really be fine, right?"

"Oh honey, I don't know," she murmured, trying to keep her face calm as another contraction hit. Jesse didn't seem to notice. "I hope so."

Vince stopped in the doorway and took in the sight before him. Jesse and Alex were standing as close to Leon's bed as possible. Jesse was holding her hand in a white-knuckle grip as he whispered things to Alex. He'd never thought of the two of them as close. Sure, Alex would play video games with him every now and then, but since her knowledge and interest in cars was lacking and Jesse usually only talked about cars; they had a hard time conversing. At this moment, though, he saw they were closer than he thought.

He couldn't tell who was consoling whom, only that they seemed to be leaning on each other for support. Alex murmured something to him, looking away from Leon and up at Jesse for a brief moment. Jesse shrugged sadly before leaning over to press a kiss to her forehead. She squeezed his hand in response.

"He's going to be fine," Vince said from his spot at the doorway. They turned and he realized that their eyes were red with tears. "At least, that's what the nurses say. He hit his head during the crash and while they don't see anything wrong with it besides needing a few stitches to close that cut up, they won't know for sure 'til he wakes up."

"But he will wake up?" Alex asked, her green eyes hopeful.

Vince nodded. "That's what they tell me."

"Oh thank God," she breathed, sitting down in the chair behind her. The baby kicked inside her stomach. A good, hard kick. She winced as she rubbed at the spot. "Shit."

Vince grabbed her hand, kneeling down at her side. "Tiny, we got to go. Baby time."

"No! I'm fine! I'll just keep my legs closed! I can't leave him," she insisted, squeezing Vince's hand as pain shot up through her lower back and stomach. She sucked in a hard breath, closing her eyes shut in pain. "Fuck this hurts!"

"Jess you stay here and tell Mi and Ron what's going on," Vince ordered, grunting as he swept Alex up into his arms.

She clung to him, her hands fisted in his shirt as another wave of pain overtook her. "Oh my God! Get it out of me!" she yelled, her eyes shut tightly in pain.

"All right, all right. Just breathe!" Vince chuckled, brushing a kiss across her forehead as he speed-walked out of Leon's hospital room and towards the elevator.

Once on the right floor, the maternity nurse looked at him with wide eyes. "Everything all right?"

"No!" Alex yelled, groaning in pain. "I'm about to have a freakin' baby here!"

Vince could tell the nurse was fighting a smile as she hurried to grab him a wheel chair. "You must be awfully strong to carry her like that," she commented, her warm eyes watching as he gingerly set Alex in the wheelchair.

"Yeah, he's a big fuckin' guy!" Alex exclaimed, holding onto her belly, and glaring at Vince when he laughed at her response. "Stop fuckin' laughing! This is all your damn fault! I hate you!"

"Liar," he quipped back. He did his best to stop laughing. He took her hand in his, surprised by the strength of her grip. "Just breathe, Tiny. In and out, just like in that class!"

Alex winced, squeezing his hand tighter. "Bull shit! Just get it out of me!"

Vince chuckled under his breath, catching the nurse's eye and smiling at her. "Guess, its baby time."

Ronnie and Jesse watched Mia as she paced the floor in front of the delivery room, muttering to herself. "I can't believe they wouldn't let me in there," she said, shaking her head as she remembered Vince and Alex yelling at her to leave as soon as she walked through the door. "I know what to do! I study this shit!"

"Must've been your calm nerves," Ronnie teased. At Mia's glare, he shrugged a shoulder. "Relax menina. They wouldn't let me in there either." (Baby girl.)

"That's because you're a nuisance."

He grinned at her. "Thank you."

"Not a compliment."

Jesse chuckled at the exchange. Ronnie elbowed his side, winking him as if to say, check this out. "Oh meu patinha, you love me. Deep down you have this strong urge to be my little wife and make me fat with your delicious food." (My little duck)

She stopped pacing just to glare at him. "In your dreams," she scoffed, though Jesse could tell she was fighting off a smile. He wondered if she really did feel that way about Ronnie and decided he liked the idea of the pair. They balanced each other out well. Even now he could tell Ronnie was trying to distract her to calm her down, even if it meant annoying her.

"Nah, in yours," he shot back with a wink. "I know you want me, meu peixinha. I'm just waiting for you." (My little fish)

"Get real," she muttered, ignoring the way her heartbeat kicked into high gear at his wink.

He blew a kiss at her and she flipped him off. "Mia Toretto plays hard to get, huh, Jesse?"

Jesse shrugged a shoulder. Alex's screams were barely audible through the thick hospital walls, but they made him nervous. He ran his hands through his hair, trying to calm down. He was in desperate need of a cigarette "You think Lex is okay? She's been in there awhile. Does it take that long? What if Lee wakes up? Should we be with him?"

"She's okay, Jess. The baby will be out any time now," Mia said, giving him a loving smile. "Lee will be fine too. The nurses will let us know if anything changes. His drugs are still wearing off and then he has to take time to wake up on his own. It'll be awhile."

"What about Michaela?" he asked, his face a bit panicked. He had forgotten all about his best friend for a brief moment in the craziness of the day. "No one called her. Lex was gonna and then she…couldn't."

Mia pulled out her cell phone to call her just as the doctor came out the door. As quickly as she had brought it out, Mia shoved the phone into her pocket, making a mental note to call Michaela later. She was too eager to hear about the baby to interrupt the doctor by making a phone call.

Eight hours later…

The nurse finally handed Alex a small bundle with a little blue hat. "Here's your son," she said, gently transferring the baby to his mother's arms. "He's positively beautiful. Got a head full of hair just like his daddy," she commented looking to Vince.

Vince didn't hear her comment, nor did he hear Alex's response to it. His eyes were fixated on the small bundle in his fiancée's arms. He gently sat down on the bed next to her, watching her as she pressed a kiss to the baby's forehead. "So you're the one that's been kicking me. Nice to finally put a face to the kick," she commented on a light laugh, happy tears in her eyes. She looked up at Vince, a huge smile on her face. "He's amazing."

"Wow," he mumbled, kissing to her shoulder. He gently touched his son's soft tan cheek. "I can't believe he's ours."

"We have to name him, you know," Vince said, his voice soft so as not to wake his sleeping son. "We can't call him Gremlin forever."

Alex chuckled and nodded. "What about Maximus?"

"Sounds an awful lot like Maxima," he replied, giving her a suspicious glance. "Are you allowing him to be named after my car, Tiny? I thought you were firmly against that."

She smirked and shrugged a shoulder. "I like it. It means greatest."

"Well he is our son so he's bound to be the greatest at something."

"And I'm pretty sure he was made in your car that night," Alex added on a laugh. "How about Angelo for the middle name?"

Vince was surprised by the choice. It was a name he hadn't heard in years, one that brought up both happy and sad memories of his own childhood. "Angelo was my dad's name."

She gave him a secretive smile. "I know."

"You want to name him after my dad?" he asked, disbelief apparent in his voice. She had never and would never meet his dad; why would she want to give him that honor? "What about your dad?"

"From what you've told me, your dad was a wonderful guy, and my dad's already got one grandson named after him; he definitely doesn't need another," she explained slowly. "Why? You don't like the idea?"

He shook his head. "No, no, I love the idea. I just…I can't believe you thought of it," he answered honestly. Dipping his head, he caught her lips in a quick kiss. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me. Maximus Angelo is a freakin' badass name," she said, scowling at him.

"Our little Gremlin is gonna be a badass."

She nodded, grinning up at him. "Just like his dad."

Vince smirked. "Heaven help us if he's anything like I was growing up."

Mia jumped up from her spot on the floor when she saw Vince walk out of the room. "So? Is she okay? Is the baby okay? What is the baby? What did you name it?" she shouted at him, rapid fire.

Ronnie set a hand on her shoulder. "Woah, woah, woah, Toretto. Cool your jets. Let the man speak."

Vince gave Ronnie an appreciative look before clearing his throat. "It's a boy. Maximus Angelo Catella. Nine pounds, two ounces. Mama and Maxi are perfectly fine."

"A boy!" she shouted, before clapping her hands over her mouth. She threw her arms around Vince, hugging him tightly. "Oh my gosh! You're a dad!"

Ronnie side stepped around them and headed straight into the room. "There's my girl," he said, grinning at his best friend, his sister. Growing up, she'd always been his partner in crime and his shoulder to cry on. She was patient with him when he was annoying, laughed with him when he told immature jokes, and listened to his ramblings. She was a piece of him, one that he knew he would cherish for the rest of his life and to see that glowing smile on her face made him feel happier than he'd felt in a long time. "How you doin', Lil' Mama?"

"I'm good," she said on a tired sigh. She shifted the baby in her arms so he could see his little face. "Meet Maxi."

"He's a cutie," Ronnie commented with a grin. "Can I hold him?"

"Ronald Romero, if you drop him like you did to your little brother, I swear to God I will kill you," Alex threatened, glaring at her best friend.

Ronnie rolled his eyes as he sat down on the bed next to her. "I make one mistake and everyone thinks I'm a baby dropper! Frankie's totally fine now. A little weird, but totally fine."

"Frankie's not any weirder than you, Ronnie," Alex said with a scowl as she gently handed him the baby. She leant her head against his muscular arm. After a moment of silence, she looked up at him. "Remember when we used to talk about this moment?"

"Mmm," Ronnie said on a nod. "We used to say Eddie would faint or be at work so I'd be the one in here with you instead of him and we'd give the kid some crazy music name like Hendrix or Madonna and Eddie would be mad. He used to hate when we talked about it because he knew we were right."

She giggled. "Vince stayed."

"That's because he's a good man."

"What if I had accepted Ed's apology, Ron? What if we'd gotten back together?"

Ronnie chuckled, shaking his head at her. They played the 'what-if' game all the time. It was a favorite. "Lexi, I knew from the very first time I heard you talk about Vince that he was it. Before you slept with him, before you really hung out, you called me and told me he saved you from a night of hell like some sort of superhero and I knew."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "How could you have known?"

"You called him your very own Superman."

"So?"

"Superman is your favorite and you never once called Eddie your Superman. You used to call him the Flash, remember? Because he was always going from one place to another and stuff," he explained before looking down at Maxi. "Your Mama hates the Flash, Maxi, but she sure as hell loves Superman. That's why I knew your Daddy was it. Cool stuff, huh? Uncle Ronnie knew because of superheroes."

Alex laughed. "You're crazy, Ron."

He ignored her and continued talking to the baby. "Now, I always thought your daddy was more Wolverine than Superman, but you're Mama just has this thing for red underpants."

"Ronnie, shut up!"

"What's he saying now?" Mia asked as she strode into the room, her arm looped through Vince's.

Ronnie smirked. "Nothing, ladrao de bebes." (Baby stealer)

His name made Alex giggle while Mia fixed him with a heated glare. "I don't know what that means, Romero, but I bet it isn't nice. Now let me see that baby."

"Eu te disse," he murmured to Alex. He gently handed Maxi to Mia. "Support his head. Don't drop him." (I told you.)

"I'm not going to drop him! Who drops babies?" Mia exclaimed, a scowl on her face.

Ronnie didn't say anything in response and he prayed his best friend wouldn't either. Alex was silent, but she gave Ron a discreet wink that made Vince wonder if Ronnie had dropped a baby in the past. Vince sat down on Alex's other side and she leaned into him, resting her head in the crook of his neck. "How's Lee?" she asked around a yawn.

Vince lifted his arm and slid it around her waist. "The same," he answered lowly. "Jess is with him right now."

"Can I go?"

"Gotta ask the nurse, not me." He had already asked the nurse, of course, but the answer had been no, and he knew it would not go over well with his fiancee. He didn't want to upset her during such a happy moment. He'd leave that to the nurse. She gave him a suspicious glare as though she knew he was hiding something. Luckily, Mia interrupted her before she could say anything.

Maxi started fussing in Mia's arms which made her frown. "He doesn't like me!" she announced, a look of horror on her face. She desperately wanted this little being to like her. She loved babies and it would kill her not to be able him without him crying.

Alex smiled as she shook her head. "Don't be silly. He's just hungry, Mi. Here, I'll feed him."

Mia looked relieved. "Typical Catella. Whining because he's hungry," she said, giving Vince a pointed look.

He smiled back at her proudly. "That's my boy."

Mia scoffed and turned to leave to give Alex some privacy. Ronnie didn't move. "Bye Ronnie!"Alex exclaimed, glaring at him.

"What? Nothin' I haven't seen before," he commented on a shrug. They grew up together. He'd seen her with her top off lots of times during quick changes on tour, accidentally while changing on the beach, and other random times. Hell, they'd taken baths together as kids!

Vince rolled his eyes at Ronnie. "I think that's her way of saying get the hell out."

Ronnie sighed and stood. "Fair enough. Enjoy your meal, Grem."

Once the door shut behind him, Alex raised an eyebrow at him. "You're not mad," she stated, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Should I be?" he asked on a smirk. He knew he had nothing to worry about with Ronnie.

"No, no, of course not. It's just Ron," she replied, shaking her head as she situated Maxi under the breast-feeding privacy contraption the nurse had given her. Not even Eddie had accepted she and Ron's relationship that easily. He'd always had a problem with their closeness. But Vince didn't seem to care. A small smile spread across her face, he really was the right one for her. "I love you. I really do."

Jesse stared at the phone in his hand, mentally planning the conversation he was about to have with Michaela for the thirteenth time. He'd almost gotten through it twelve times before but something always distracted him before he got to the end. Now, he finally finished it and it sounded good. He held down the number three, her speed dial number, and put the phone to his ear.

Nervous energy flooded through him with each new ring driving him crazy until he stood up and started to pace. Finally on the last ring, Michaela's voice chimed on the other end. "Jesse! Long time no talk! What's up?"

He tried to think of his carefully planned opening line and blanked as his mind travelled instead to the last time she talked to him which really wasn't as long ago as her opening line made it sound. Damn ADD, he thought to himself. "Shit uh…oh yeah," he muttered, trying to get back on track. "I'm fine. I was callin' cause I got really good news and some decently bad news. And you have to hear both but which one do you want first?"

Michaela frowned. She could tell something wrong by the tone of his voice. Something worse than "decently bad." Her heart suck to the bottom of her chest as she thought of all the possibilities. Swallowing hard, she decided which she wanted to hear first. "How about we start with the really good?"

Jesse nodded. He figured she'd go that route. "Well, Alex had the baby. Baby Maxi. He's cute and healthy and of course, named after the Maxima which is cool. He'll be a total badass someday…"

She wasn't listening to Jesse ramble on about the baby. Instead, she was wondering why Leon didn't call to tell her. After all, he had promised her that he'd be the one to call. Had she burned that bridge when she left? Were they really so over that he couldn't even call her? She knew her thoughts were selfish. Her brother just had his first kid for crying out loud and all she could think about was Leon and why he hadn't called her! She really was messed up! The silence on the other end indicated that it was her turn to speak. "That's awesome, Jess," she said, trying to muster up some enthusiasm to mask her disappointment. "Out with the decently bad now."

"Um…okay. Don't freak out."

Michaela twirled a strand of hair around her finger nervously. "I won't. What's going on?"

"Lee crashed the Skyline."

She sucked in a hard breath. That wasn't too bad. Maybe that's why he hadn't called her. He was too preoccupied with his injured car that he didn't think about it. "Is he all right?"

"I guess…I dunno…he's in the hospital too. Well, he was here first, technically and then Lex had Maxi. The doctor's won't know how bad his injuries are 'til he wakes up."

Michaela ran a hand through her hair. "Shit. How's the car?" she asked, badly in need of distraction.

"Its…bad. He got t-boned so the whole right side is just trashed…and there's blood like…everywhere. Probably from that fuckin' gash in his head. That's why we gotta wait for him to wake up to find out shit because he's got this wicked gash like on his forehead and a scrape through his eyebrow and shit. He's got a few stitches through 'em. They're gonna leave some wicked scars."

She felt sick to her stomach as she pictured it. How could this have happened? Wasn't he paying attention? Where the hell had he been going? Leon was the most cautious driver she knew and an expert at going fast. What the hell had he been thinking? "Was he drunk, Jess?"

"Nah, he was fuckin' sober 'cause he was on his way to the hospital because Lex's water had broken and shit. The paramedics found his cell in his hands. They thought he was tryin' to call someone on his way or something and hadn't looked up in time to see the light change."

"Fuck," she murmured, tears coming to her eyes. This had been her fault. He'd been trying to call her. "What do I do, Jess?"

The other end was silent and for a moment, Michaela thought Jesse had hung up. "Isn't it obvious, Mickey? He needs you. Come home."

You like?

What do you think of the baby's name?

Let me know all your thoughts, ideas, etc. in a review! I love hearing from you!

~Love Ink