Author's Note: I would have had this up sooner, but my beta had to go and attend this convention over the weekend….not sure why it was so special…yes, i'm very jealous she got to go and see the boys and meet them and i had to stay at home sick, packing my apt and working….
Chapter 54: Baby Steps
Micky sat in the living room with his daughter in his lap feeding her a bottle. She was about 4 months old now and smiling and giggling at him. Sarah was having a harder time bouncing back then they'd all expected. She was still pretty weak and had a hard time moving around the house so the boys all pitched in and helped take care of her as she needed. She got a little better every day, but the stress of their situation was getting to her, added to everything else she'd been through. Micky knew she'd bounce back eventually, but she'd been knocked down so many times before it was harder for her to get back up.
Serenity was getting a lot better, on the other hand. She'd gone a whole month now being able to sleep through the night on her own and she was getting bigger every day. She was still small, but she was finally at a healthy weight. Her breathing had mostly normalized and she only had a few problems that Micky knew would carry on through the rest of her life, but he would teach her how to manage it. He knew that premature babies developed slower than most other babies, but she didn't seem to be. Maybe it was because she had Emmett to model after, but she was keeping right in pace with where she should be. For the most part.
Agent Booth and Doctor Brendan had come back a while ago to tell them that Angela had found Hope. Angela had said that Hope had looked very healthy and safe which relieved Micky and Rose as much as the others. They'd also said they'd be heading to California to start searching for some of the bodies Micky and Mike told them about. They promised to keep everything low key so that Claire wouldn't catch wind of what they were doing.
Micky put Serenity down in the playpen they had set up for her and Emmett to play in as Mike came downstairs. He smiled at Micky and placed Emmett in the playpen next to Serenity and they watched as the two played together. Emmett was growing quickly, too. He could crawl pretty well, but was using the furniture to stand for a few minutes before plopping on the ground. A month or so ago, he'd even said his first word: "Dada". It had come after a couple months of Mike trying to get him to say it. When he'd said it, Mike's smile consumed his whole face. Emmett handed Serenity his toy car Davy had gotten him, but Serenity just threw it on the ground and they both giggled.
"Look at that," Mike laughed. "Not even a year old and they are already best friends."
"Imagine that," Micky smiled. "It's not like they really have anyone else to play with."
"I feel bad," Mike said. "They should be socializing with other kids, right? Learning social and interaction skills and all that?"
"Well, at least they have each other," Micky sighed knowing Mike was right but there wasn't really anything they could do about it. "And us."
"True, I mean with Davy and Peter it's almost like they have two other toddlers around all the time," Mike said dryly.
"We heard that," Davy shot coming down the stairs with Peter, Willow and Rose.
"Heard what?" Mike laughed. "Breakfast?"
"We aren't toddlers," Peter smiled.
"Who said you were?" Mike said flatly before heading off to the kitchen. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Liar," Davy muttered plopping down on the sofa. They'd done a lot of work around the cabin and the place was finally starting to look really good. There weren't many things left to do, in fact, and that almost made Micky wonder if they would have to leave when all the repairs were finished. He only hoped the snow that had blanketed the area for the last few months would last because they couldn't do much work with it. Micky smiled at his friends, enjoying the fact they could still banter with each other. Emmett tried to push himself up, but fell down a few times since the barrier of the playpen was a bit high for him. Finally Peter walked over and helped him stand. Serenity giggled and clapped throwing her hands up like she wanted to stand too, so Micky walked over and lifted her up enough so she could stand. They sat there even after eating breakfast and played with the babies for a while before they heard someone knocking on the door.
"I'll get it," Micky said puzzled. They weren't expecting anyone and he didn't want any surprises. Then again, he doubted whether Claire and the others would actually knock. When he opened it, he saw Dr. Brendan and Agent Booth standing there. "Good morning. I wasn't expecting you back so soon. Is everything ok?"
"Yes, everything's fine," Booth answered walking in as Micky stepped aside. "We just wanted to check and see how you were doing."
"We're fine," Micky said. "What about you guys? Did you find them?"
"Did you think we wouldn't?" Dr. Brendan asked.
"I wasn't sure what you'd find after 10 years," Micky answered. "I'd hoped you would, of course, but I don't know. What about Hope?"
"She's still fine," Booth answered. "We check on her periodically. We brought you these." Booth pulled a large envelope out of the bag he carried and handed it to Micky as the others walked in to see who'd come to the door; Mike holding Emmett and Rose holding Serenity. Micky smiled looking at pictures of Hope the two had taken. She was smiling. He loved her smile.
"Is that her?" Davy asked looking over Micky's elbow to see the pictures. "She's beautiful."
"Thanks," Micky said smiling. "Both of you, thank you. I can't tell you what it means to know she's safe and being looked after."
"I have a son myself," Booth said. "Trust me, I know. I don't know what I'd do if someone threatened him."
"We have an entire team uncovering the bodies and so far we've been able to find pretty good evidence," Dr. Brendan said changing the subject. "It's slow going, but we have been able to identify a few bodies and have been able to determine cause of death on most which match your stories."
"That isn't really evidence that would hold up in court, though," Micky admitted.
"No, but I was able to match the bullet from one of the bodies to the one that shot the priest," Brendan said. "Which means if we can find her gun, we can match her gun to the bullet. And we're still processing other evidence."
"So you could still find more to tie her and the others to these attacks?" Peter asked hopefully.
"Yes," Booth answered. "And I've spoken to some of the families who have had girls disappear or die at the hospital. I've convinced some of them to have their loved ones exhumed very discreetly. The press is hounding us for what we're doing and it's been hard going trying to keep them from printing anything, but I have a few friends in high places."
"What happens if they find out we're on to them?" Willow asked.
"They'll try and kill Booth," Micky answered.
"But there's too many people involved," Willow said. "If they try and kill everyone, they'll be painting targets on their backs."
"They don't know that," Micky said. "And there aren't a lot of people who know everything. The other option, though unlikely, is that they'll run."
"I have a marine friend keeping an eye on Claire, Heather and Wayne," Booth assured him. "If they run, I'll know it."
"And my friend Jack was able to falsify a lead suggesting you are headed to New York," Brendan said smiling.
"Really?" Micky asked. "I wouldn't have thought that was legal."
"It's not," Rose said. "At least not for law enforcement to do."
"That's why law enforcement didn't do it," Booth said. "And it's not really so much illegal as it is just something that'll get you fired."
"Either way," Rose said. "Thank you."
"We got you something for Christmas," Booth said smiling.
"You did?" Micky asked a little surprised. Micky had almost forgotten it was close to Christmas.
"We did," Booth said. "You'll have to come outside."
"You didn't have to do anything for us," Peter blushed.
"We know," Brendan said as the group went outside curiously. "We talked to some of your friends in Malibu under the pretense of looking for you. None of them thought you could ever kill anyone, by the way. They all thought you were innocent."
"They told us how much you love your music," Booth continued. When they approached the truck Booth had apparently driven up in, he pulled a tarp off the end of it. Micky's jaw dropped when he saw his glittering drumset in the back of the truck along with Peter's bass, Mike's guitar, and Davy's tambourine and maracas along with their amps and microphones.
"Our instruments!" Davy exclaimed with excitement. Micky was equally excited, but also a little wary.
"How did you get these?" Mike asked before Micky even had a chance to.
"We talked to your landlord," Booth said. "He said he rented your place to your grandfather, Davy. We spoke to him, too. He wanted to make sure someone kept your stuff and wanted to see you, but by the time he got to California, you'd already escaped. He's been looking for you ever since."
"We would have told him you were ok, but we weren't sure if it was ok to," Brendan said. "But we said we were going to confiscate your instruments as evidence."
"He didn't take that lightly," Booth said. "But we wrote out a receipt and promised him he'd get it back when we were done."
"I didn't even think about how worried he'd be," Davy muttered looking sullen. "I should have found a way to tell him we were ok."
"He's trustworthy?" Booth asked.
"Very," Mike said firmly. "Please tell him we're ok. But don't tell him where we are or anything else. We can't bring him into this."
"And don't let anything happen to him," Davy said. "Please."
"We'll keep an eye on him," Booth said. "Don't worry. But in the meantime, we know how much these mean to you, so lets get them in the cabin. I can't imagine how long its been since you boys have played."
"A year," Peter answered looking longingly at his bass.
"Then why don't you play something for us," Brendan smiled. "We have to go back and work on the dig more tomorrow, but we'd love to hear you guys. We were told how good you were."
"Sure," Micky said as they unloaded their instruments. He was happy to have them back and glad they hadn't tipped anyone off by taking them. "Let me just check on Sarah first. Let her know what we're doing so she's not startled."
"Sure," Mike said handing Emmett to Willow so he could help unload the instruments. Sarah said she wanted to come downstairs and watch them play when Micky told her about the gifts, so he helped her down the stairs and put Serenity in her arms. Rose sat with Emmett and watched them play. They decided to play a couple songs for Booth and Brendan, who loved it and told them they really were great musicians. Emmett and Serenity laughed and giggled as they played, and Emmett even danced a little. At least, Micky assumed it was dancing. For an 8 months old, it was more like wiggling around having fun. It was still cute and the two babies really seemed to enjoy it.
Booth and Brendan stayed and ordered and picked up some pizza for them that night and they all just enjoyed themselves the rest of the day. Booth and Brendan promised to keep in touch with them when they went back to California to dig up the rest of the bodies. They said it would probably take a little while longer to get everything in order before they could arrest Claire and the others, but assured them they would go as fast as they could. In the meantime, they just had to hang tight and be ready when the time came.