It was a warm Friday afternoon and Connor had picked up Cole from school as per usual without any incident. While normally Cole would tell Connor all about his day during the drive back home and would then ask for the deviant detective's help with his homework, the little boy was unusually quiet from the moment Connor picked him up from school to the minute that his dad returned home from work. It had been months since Cole had been ill or shown any sign of feeling unwell even in the slightest, but Connor was prompted to perform a biometric scan over the little boy to ensure that there weren't any brewing illnesses inside his body. When the scan came back clean Connor then resorted to trying to talk to Cole and make sure there wasn't an incident at his school that needed to be taken care of.

A quick and simple exercise in interrogation from the deviant detective confirmed that Cole wasn't struggling in school, but it was clear that something had happened at school that day. While it didn't appear to be anything serious that needed to be addressed with Cole's teacher or his principal, it was something that needed to be discussed with Hank once the man finished with his shower.

"If you don't want to speak with your dad, you can speak with me." Connor reminded Cole that he wasn't alone and that he could confide in his android friend. Seeing Cole mindlessly using his fork to roll a single baby carrot over his plate confirmed that there was something on the little boy's mind keeping him distracted. "I may not know what it's like to be a child, or even a human for that matter, but I'm still a good listener."

Cole just shook his head as he stared at his relatively full dinner plate and continually fussed with the carrot. It was clear the second grader wasn't feeling particularly talkative that evening.

"Very well. I'll leave you alone for now." Respectfully Connor rose from his chair at the kitchen table and decided to start washing the dishes to clean up after dinner now that Hank and Cole had their fills. "If you do wish to talk, then I'm right here and ready to listen."

By the time Connor had set about washing the dishes Hank had finished his shower and stepped out of the bathroom feeling very refreshed. The man returned to the kitchen and saw Cole fidgeting with his dinner and knew that his son still needed to talk about whatever happened to him that day. He had hoped that Cole would've opened up a little to Connor so that he could get an idea of what was happening, but it seemed that Cole was unwilling to talk about it just yet.

"If you're not hungry then you don't have to eat everything on your plate, son." Hank stated casually as he patted Cole's shoulder and sat down in the chair beside him. "Did you finish your homework?"

"Don't have any."

"Oh, cool. Then you can just enjoy your weekend without needing to worry about that."

Cole nodded and sank back in his seat as he gave his dad a somber glance.

"Something happen to you at school today? Bullies, struggling with your assignments, teacher being annoying?"

"No. Not any of that."

"Then what's up? You can tell me, bud, I won't be upset." Hank returned his hand to Cole's shoulder and noticed that Connor was discreetly listening in on what was being discussed as he fussed with the dishes. "What's going on?"

The little boy gave Hank an awkward glance before sighing and sitting upright in his chair again. "We spent the day making cards."

"All right, what kind of cards?"

"...Mother's Day cards."

"Oh, I see." Now Hank understood why Cole was acting so unlike himself. His son was now old enough to be curious about why his mother wasn't in the picture without Barbara's absence being the result of a divorce or, worse, Barbara being in jail. "Did your teacher make you make a card?"

"No. After I told her I didn't have a mom Mrs. Corday let work on something else." Leaning forward Cole rested his elbows atop the kitchen table as he looked his dad right in the eyes. "How come I don't have a mom?"

"You do have a mom. She's just... How do I explain this?"

Connor didn't envy Hank having to awkwardly tell Cole about his late mother. He had no idea how it'd feel to have to tell a loved one about such a personal and permanent loss. The painful memories of Hank dying in his arms always created a pit of dread in his stomach. The deviant couldn't imagine trying to explain that type of pain and discomfort to a young child who was just barely beginning to comprehend the concept of life and death in the world.

"Dad, where's my mom?" Cole wasn't going to let the matter go and he wanted his answers. "I want to know!"

"Son, maybe it'd be best-"

Interjecting for a moment Connor decided to offer his unwarranted opinion on the matter. "Perhaps explaining things to Cole as you would explain things to any other child who had witnessed something tragic will make things easier." Peering over his shoulder again Connor gave Hank a knowing look through his fully healed eye to try to assist with the awkward discussion. "Being honest is important, and you can do this. You're a good and supportive father, Lieutenant, you can do this."

"Cole," Hank took in a deep breath and steadied himself as he decided to take Connor's advice to heart. "what do you remember about your mom?"

"I don't remember my mom."

"Okay, yeah, you were only two when she-" That particularly dark word wasn't one that Hank wanted to say while discussing Barbara with Cole. "You were very young when your mom... left us."

"She left?" Such a cryptic description left Cole understandably confused. "Where did she go?"

"That's not what I- Uh, Cole I want to tell you what's going on but it's hard for me to find the right words."

"How come?"

"Because talking about your mom is still very upsetting for me. I loved her, I still do, and I miss every day."

"Where is she right now?"

"She's gone, son. Your mom is... no longer with us." Hank spoke softly and rubbed his hand over his bearded chin and sighed to himself. "Your mom went to Heaven when you were only a toddler. She didn't want to go, but there was nothing that we could do to keep her with us."

Feeling as if he was intruding Connor turned off the sink, dried off his hands and made a move to leave the kitchen. He didn't want to make things feel all the more uncomfortable considering the topic at hand.

"Why'd she go?" Cole asked innocently as he tried to understand where his mom had gone and why she had left. "What happened?"

"Okay, I'll tell you everything that happened, but it won't be easy." Hank scooted his chair back and turned it so he could face Cole more directly. The man took his young son's hand in his own and told him the truth about Barbara. "For a long time, before you were even born, your mom worked as a detective just like me. We even worked together as partners at the precinct."

"You and mom worked at the same job?"

"That's right. She and I worked together to stop the bad people who were selling drugs in the city, and we managed to work together and got a lot of those people arrested because they broke the law."

"What does that have to do with mom?"

"Well, it's because your mom and I worked hard to get a bunch of criminals off the streets that your mom isn't here anymore. You see, someone got really mad at your mom for doing her job and getting him arrested. And he, uh... Well, he..."

"He hurt mom." Cole deduced accurately as he peered into the livingroom and looked at Connor sitting on the couch with Sumo happily sprawled over his lap. "Just like you and Connor got hurt."

"Yeah, son. A man hurt your mom, and he hurt her so badly that she couldn't get better." As he spoke Hank felt his emotions welling up and had to clear his throat to keep himself from losing his emotional composure. He didn't want to breakdown in front or Cole and make his son feel as if it was somehow wrong to want to know about his own mother. "Remember how I had been shot a while back?"

The leading question was all it took to point Cole in the right direction. "...Someone shot mom."

"That's right." Reliving the moment was one of the most painful experiences of Hank's life that normally only plagued him in his nightmares. "The ambulance came and tried to get her to the hospital as fast as possible, but she was hurt too badly to recover. A bad man took your mom away from us, son."

Cole sank down in his chair again as he contemplated everything he had been told. Such a truth was hard to accept.

"Are you going to be okay?" A part of Hank was glad that Cole now knew the truth, but another part of him wished that Cole would be able to live in ignorant bliss of such heartache for the rest of his life. "Need to keep talking?"

"When mom died... was she scared?"

"Not for one second." Hank tightened his protective hand around Cole's hand to make sure Cole felt secured. "I was with her, and I held her hand the entire time. She wasn't afraid of what happened to her or of what was going to happen to her. She was focused on you and wanted me to make sure that you grew up happy, safe and knowing how much both of your parents love you."

"Then why don't you talk about mom?"

"Because talking about her makes me miss her even more, and that makes me feel sad. It's okay to feel sad, but I don't like that feeling, so I try to avoid it."

"What does mom even look like?"

"Well, she was tall, had light skin like us, deep brown eyes and long wavy brown hair."

Cole gave his dad an annoyed look and just shook his head at the way his mother had just been described. "You make it sound like she's a criminal and you're trying to find her!"

"Yeah, I guess I did. Think of it this way, you got her hair and her smile, while you got my nose, ears and my eyes."

From the livingroom Connor overheard the comments and decided to help out again. The deviant knew where Hank kept the framed photographs of Barbara and managed to get into the man's bedroom and locate the photo in the closet on the top shelf above the hanging shirts. Carrying the photograph with him Connor took it into the kitchen and discreetly handed it over to Cole to view for himself.

"This is easier in my opinion." Connor stated in a low voice as he exited the kitchen as quickly as he had entered. "Your mother was very lovely."

Hank didn't even care that Connor had found the photo and had taken it out of his bedroom. Having the photo made things far easier to explain since Cole could see his mother's face at long last. "Connor's right. She was lovely. Smart, funny, beautiful, kind, honest... Just everything. I fell in love with her for a damn good reason."

Cole studied the photograph with an intent gaze and felt an odd sense of familiarity wash over him. Somehow, he knew the woman despite having no memories of spending time with his mom, and with that familiarity came a sense of security and comfort. "This is mom."

"Yup."

"How come it feels like I know her even though I didn't know her?"

"Well, you technically did know her when you were a baby and a toddler, your memories just didn't form fully."

"So it's okay for me to feel like this?"

"Absolutely."

"Can I have this picture?" Cole asked as he smiled at the image and felt far better now that he knew more about his mom after having an odd day at school. "I want to keep it."

"You got it, son." Such a simple request was easy enough to agree to. "I'll bring out the other photos of your mom so you can see her more, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Okay. Feel better?"

"Yup."

"That's good. I'm glad we finally talked about your mom; I just wish we didn't have to do it so awkwardly."

"Me too."

"All right. Why don't you finish up your dinner while I break out that tray of freshly baked brownies?" Having Connor around the house to cook and even master a few of Barbara's old recipes had been an unexpected blessing after brining the android into the house. It's been a while since we spent the night playing some games instead of watching movies, so we can play 'Monopoly' and spend the entire night fighting over the railroads. Or any other game of that matter. Sound good?"

"Okay, dad. Can Connor play too?"

"Sure. It'll be the banker."

While Hank went over to the counter to get the tray of tasty desserts Cole resumed eating his dinner with the framed photograph of his mother beside him. Connor had heard the way Hank had managed to speak honestly with his son and broach a difficult subject like an absolute professional and had to admit that he was impressed with how well he had handled it despite his reluctance to even discuss Barbara.

It was refreshing to hear Hank speaking so openly, honestly and kindly. That was a wondrous reassurance that Hank wasn't entirely cold and that he wasn't as heartless as he appeared on the outside. It gave Connor hope that their potential future friendship wasn't entirely impossible. Maybe after enough time had passed and enough changes overtook Detroit the Lieutenant would be able to open himself up to Connor in a similar manner.

"Hey, dad?" Cole looked up at Hank as a new question popped into his head as he bit down on his carrot and tilted his head curiously. "Are you going to start dating like Gavin is?"

"Oh, man, THAT is a new topic that you're far too young for me to discuss right now." The very notion of dating again gave Hank flashbacks to awkward high school interactions, notes being passed, cheap flowers being bought and uncomfortable slow dances in a dimly lit gymnasium. Dating was just something he wasn't ready to even attempt to try again. "I also think that particular topic is something that I'm too old to discuss. One new topic at a time, huh, son?"

-next chapter-