"Grandma!" Jacob thrust a piece of paper at Lola Rodriguez when she opened her door.
"Oh my!" Lola laughed, steadying herself on her walker as she accepted the picture from him. "Well, this is wonderful, and I'm going to have to have my nurse start making some room!"
Sonny glanced at the refrigerator, which was covered in every kind of paper imaginable, scrawled pictures of Spider-man, Sonic the Hedgehog, and pictures of Jacob's grandmother, friends from school, and Big Brother Sonny. "You could almost wallpaper the place," he noted, tugging Jacob backwards by the shoulder so his grandmother could turn around and go back to the small living room to sit down. "Oh, that reminds me," he added. He set down the shopping bag in his other hand. "Mama Carisi's famous chicken alfredo," Sonny explained.
"I don't like the white stuff," Jacob muttered. "So Grandma can eat it all!"
"Jacob," Lola chided gently, but Sonny laughed.
"That's okay," he assured her. "My niece Mia doesn't like alfredo sauce either. How are you doin' Lola? The end is in sight, right?"
Lola nodded, sitting down on the couch, Sonny noticed, with much more ease. "Two weeks," she said. "My doctor tells me I'm doing well."
"Grandma, can I watch cartoons?" Jacob asked from in front of the television.
"If you can find the remote," Lola said. "I might have brought it to bed with me-go check the bedroom."
"Okay!" Jacob hopped up and bounded into the adjoining room.
Lola shook her head. "Even with the new parts, I still can't move that fast." She looked at Sonny who had sat down across from her in a chair he'd nicked from the common area. "I could barely keep up with him before, Sonny," she said. "And all the stairs at our apartment…"
"What about moving?" Sonny questioned. "I have some friends around the city, we could look into other apartments for you two."
"On my retirement?" Lola smiled. "Not all of us can afford the high life, Mr. Assistant District Attorney."
He laughed gently. "Hey for a while I was thinkin' of movin' back in with my parents," he countered. He reached over and took her hand. "You know, even after you both move back in together, I'm more than willin' to come by and help out. Amanda and her girls, too."
"And you know I would appreciate that."
Jacob bounded out of the bedroom. "No remote."
"You'll have to keep yourself entertained then," Lola told him. "Why don't you go out and see if there's a deck of cards or a board game out there that we can play today? Quietly," she added with a raised eyebrow.
"Okay, Grandma!" Jacob poked his head out the door. "Hey, Mr. Abbott has his dog out there," he said. "Can I go say hi?" He was looking at Sonny as he said it.
"Only pet it if Mr. Abbott says it's okay. Sammy is a working dog," Sonny reminded him.
"I'll ask," Jacob promised, slipping out into the common area. The door clicked shut behind him, and Sonny slid the window blinds to the side so they could see out into the other room. Jacob was sitting on the floor, Sammy's head in his lap. Sonny shook his head.
"He loves you, you know."
Sonny froze at the window. "I like him a lot, too," he admitted to Lola, moving to sit back down. "He's a great kid."
"I knew the moment you came over that you two would be more than just a Big Brother and a Little Brother," Lola said. "He's so excited to call me and tell me what the two of you have been up to."
"Well, I hope that after you're back on your feet, so to speak," Sonny said, "that I can keep comin' around to hang out with him."
"Your momma raised a good one, Sonny Carisi," Lola said. Sonny looked up, and saw she had tears in her eyes.
"Lola, are you all right? Do we need to call for anything? Pain meds, or...?"
"I'm all right, Sonny. But I do need to ask you something."
He reached over and took her hand. "Anything."
"You promise me that you'll keep bringing my grandson by once in awhile between your adventures."
"I-" Sonny frowned. "What-"
"Would you be willing to take care of my grandson permanently?" Lola asked him. "He needs a man in his life as he grows up, and someone who can run around with him and keep up with him."
Sonny's jaw dropped. "I…Lola, I thought-" He closed his eyes. "I thought we'd agreed this was temporary. I never…I never wanted to-"
"I know. And you're not taking him away from me if I'm asking you to take care of my grandson." She smiled sadly. "Mr. Carisi, as much as I'd like to think with this new hip I can run the New York City marathon, we both know it's going to be a challenge to make it up my stairs." She gestured around the room. "I've grown kind of fond of this place. But it's no place for Jacob."
Lola reached for his hand and intertwined their fingers. Sonny cleared his throat, suddenly very choked up. "I feel horrible, asking to put this burden on you-"
"Lola, he was never a burden," Sonny cut in. "Jacob would never be a burden to me. I just…"
"I know. You weren't expecting this," Lola smiled. "A bit of a blindside on my part. Maybe I was hoping this way you wouldn't have time to think and you'd just say yes."
Sonny choked out a laugh. He squeezed Lola's fingers. "A-are you sure about this, Lola?" he asked. "I mean, I wasn't joking when I said that we could find you a ground floor somewhere."
"I've got one. A little small, and the food's not always great, but with a few more of my things, I could easily make it a home. One where my grandson could come visit instead of having to worry about calling 911 when Grandma falls in the bathroom. Where he can go play with a dog and beat his grandma in Crazy Eights."
Lola leaned back on the couch, her hand still in Sonny's. "So. What do you say, Sonny?"
"I…" He ran his free hand down his face. "Lola, are you sure about this?"
Jacob came bursting back into the apartment, vibrating excitedly. "Sonny!" he said, bouncing over to him. "Mr. Abbott is gonna go walk Sammy around the yard. Can I go with him?"
He frowned, looking at the two adults. "Grandma, are you crying?" He looked at Sonny. "Sonny?"
"Hey, buddy. Have a seat," Sonny let out his breath. Jacob slid onto the couch next to his grandmother. "Jake, your grandma and I have something we want to ask you."
"Is Grandma okay?" Jacob asked, snuggling in closer to her.
She stroked his hair. "Grandma is fine, baby. Grandma is getting better by the day. But I might not be able to take care of you as well as I could before."
"Is it because you're old?"
Lola laughed, a genuine laugh. "I suppose that's part of it," she said. "The truth is, the people here take good care of Grandma Lola, and I like staying here. I'm safe here. If something happens to me, they can take care of me."
"I called 911," Jacob pointed out.
"Yes you did. But I don't want you to be scared like that again. And you don't want to live with a bunch of old people."
Jacob craned his neck to look at his grandma. "I do get kind of loud sometimes, huh Sonny."
Sonny smiled. "You're a kid, comes with the territory." Lola nodded at him. "Jake, how would you feel about…about living with me permanently? Even after Grandma gets better."
Jacob looked up at his grandma, then at Sonny. "Can I still come visit Grandma?"
"Anytime you want," Sonny promised.
Jacob nodded thoughtfully. "Can I paint my room to look like a spaceship?"
"If my building super says yes. And you buy the paint."
Jacob squinted. "Can I call you Dad?"
"Oh, um," Sonny glanced at Lola. "I…I guess that's up to you," he said. "Maybe we just stick with Sonny for awhile, just 'til we get used to everything?"
"Is there a lot to get used to?"
"Yeah, buddy, there will be. For both of us. All of us," Sonny corrected, looking at Lola.
"Okay." Jacob sat up. He hugged his grandmother. Then, he jumped up and threw himself in Sonny's arms. "Okay!"
Sonny patted his back. "I guess that answers that," he told Lola.
Lola smiled at the two of them. "That answer was never in doubt."
