Two stories in one weekend - I'm on a roll! :) Hoping to get at least one more out before my vacations ends in a few days. Enjoy! And let me know what you think with a review. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rookie Blue.

Tears of a Child

Prompt: Traci talking to Leo about Jerry's death

Featuring: Traci and Leo

Traci pulled up to her apartment and realized she couldn't remember any part of her drive home. She'd been on autopilot. Maybe she should've taken Andy or Chris up on their offers to drive her home once they'd finally left the hospital and returned to the station. But she had needed the time alone to think. When she walked through her front door, she was going to have to tell her son that the man he'd come to love like a father was gone. She didn't know how to do that when it hadn't fully sunk in for her yet.

It was late, but Traci had called her mom earlier to tell her what happened and ask her to keep Leo up until she got home. It would be well past his bedtime, but she was prepared to keep him home from school tomorrow, if necessary. This was more important.

She walked into her apartment and placed her purse and keys on a table near the door before shrugging out of her coat.

Her mother watched silently from across the room until Traci finally looked over at her with tear-streaked cheeks and red eyes tried from crying. "How are - "

"I can't," she interrupted, knowing her mom was going to ask how she was doing. "I can't think about what I feel until I get through this with him."

Her mother nodded in understanding. "He's in his bedroom. I told him to read quietly until you got home, that you wanted to tuck him in tonight."

Traci took a deep breath and headed toward Leo's room. She stood quietly in the doorway for a moment, watching him flip through the pages of his book with a smile on his face. She hated that she was going to take that smile away in a few moments.

"Hey buddy," she said, stepping into the room.

"Momma!" He tossed the book aside to wrap his little arms around Traci's neck.

She sat down on the bed and pulled Leo onto her lap, hugging him tight. "Gramma let me stay up!" he said excitedly.

"I know, honey." Traci swallowed the lump in her throat. "I've got something to tell you. You have to have your listening ears on, okay?"

Leo nodded and Traci kissed his forehead as she continued to figure out how she was going to break the news.

"You know how much Jerry loves you right?" When Leo grinned and nodded his head animatedly, her heart broke a little more, but she tried to keep her emotions together. "Today Jerry was trying to find someone who did some very bad things and...When he found the bad guy, something went wrong."

"Did Jerry get a boo-boo? He can use one of my Superman Band-Aids. They're special, but I'll share with him," he said.

Traci choked back a sob and ran her fingers through her son's hair. "Honey, he would love that, but he...he was hurt real bad and had to go to the hospital. He..." She couldn't hold the tears back anymore and they slowly started streaming down her cheeks. "Honey, Jerry went up to heaven."

"But he's supposed to take me to the movies this weekend." Leo looked up at his mom with sad eyes, but she could tell what she'd said hadn't fully sunk in yet.

"I know honey. He wanted to take you so bad."

"He promised!"

Traci hugged her son tighter against her chest and rubbed a hand up and down his back. "Leo, you remember what it means when someone goes to heaven, right?" She found she couldn't let the words 'die' or 'dead' form on her lips. Maybe it was part of her denial that Jerry was truly gone, but she couldn't say those words.

Thankfully, Leo nodded. "It's like grampa, he went up to heaven when he died," he said, sniffling. "Jerry's with grampa now?"

"Yes, honey. Jerry's up in heaven with grandpa." Traci felt the tears from Leo's cheeks soak through her shirt and she silently rocked him back and forth, hoping to sooth them both. After several minutes, Traci grabbed a tissue and wiped the tears from her son's face.

"You always remember how much Jerry loved you, Leo. Don't ever forget that, okay? He loved you so much."

"I don't want him to leave," Leo said, sniffling.

"I know. I know. I don't want him to leave either. But you have me and daddy and grandma. And Jerry, he'll...Jerry will be watching over you from heaven." She tried to force a small smile on her face to comfort her son.

"Is the bad guy gonna hurt you?" Traci realized she should have been prepared for this question, but she hadn't given it a thought. She'd always been cautious with Leo, not telling him too much about her job, but she never lied to him about how dangerous it could be sometimes.

"No, the bad guy isn't going to hurt anyone else. He's in jail. He'll be there a long, long time," she replied.

"Okay," he said, satisfied with her answer.

Traci moved Leo from her lap so he could lie down in his bed and she stood up so she could tuck his blankets all around him. "It's okay to be sad about Jerry. Mommy is sad too. But if you want to talk about him, you let me know, okay?"

Leo nodded. "I love you, mommy."

She had to swallow back more tears before she was able to speak. "I love you too, honey." She kissed her son's forehead.

"Mommy?"

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"Will you stay till I fall asleep?" Leo asked.

"Of course." She turned the light off and laid down on her side next to her son, propping her head on her hand so she could look down on him. She rubbed her other hand up and down his arm. "Now, go to sleep."

Leo yawned and closed his eyes. "And Jerry'll watch over us while we sleep?"

"You bet he will," she replied, as tears rolled down her cheeks. She laid her head down next to Leo's and stared up at the ceiling. If he was watching down on them, she only wished she could look up and see his face again.