Paperwork isn't one of Steve's strong suits and certainly wasn't what he signed up for when he became a cop, but it isn't something he can ignore in his line of work. Periodically he keeps reminding himself of that while sitting at his desk in front of a computer, forcing himself to concentrate on completing all the reports and officially stamping those cases closed.
He would've finished much sooner if he wasn't distracted. The typical noise and activity of the squad room aren't to blame. His thoughts keep drifting to his father and the young girl Mark told him about yesterday.
It doesn't surprise Steve that his dad would end up befriending her. What frustrates him is Mark's resistance to being cautious around her in light of her circumstances. No one simply walks in off the street to ask a total stranger to take a paternity test. Then there's the glaring fact her mother is Amalia Acevedes.
Amalia was unforgettable and he remembers how beautiful she was. He also remembers she wouldn't give him the time of day. He tried a couple of times and she shot him down. She was after bigger fish like Spencer Davis.
Hitting 'save' on the report he just finished, Steve prints it and moves on to the next one.
It doesn't surprise him that Amalia tried getting pregnant by Davis and that she'd try drugging him to accomplish that. He can even accept the possibility that Davis isn't this girl's father or Amalia would've succeeded in her scheme. Davis wouldn't have abandoned his daughter. He probably would've loved having someone to go check out men with.
It's surprising Davis named specific men as possible fathers to this girl. After all these years anyone could be her father. It's unlikely Amalia deviated since she had very specific tastes and wouldn't have bothered sleeping with a valet. Taylor came close and made sense. However, he and his father don't. They weren't in her universe, much less her orbit.
And it's suspicious this teenager is barely looking for her father after all this time. Steve disagrees with Mark; this girl is picking up the game Amalia left off at. In his experience, the old saying 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree' is often true. Worse yet, his father refuses to consider this girl might be up to something.
Leaning back in his chair to stretch, Steve knows it's up to him to protect his father from his own good intentions. Making a decision, he straightens up and reaches for the phone.
The world seems so clear and crisp in the bright California sunshine. Aurie feels it's a sin for anyone to be stuck working indoors on a day like this. Sitting on a park bench under the shade of an enormous eucalyptus tree, she watches a wide assortment of people strolling by as she waits for Mark to return from the restroom.
She thought the zoo would be more crowded than it is. Not that she's complaining since she never liked big crowds. Attendance probably isn't high today because it's the middle of the day in the middle of the week. It also amazes her how they're right in the middle of Los Angeles and it's only at certain spots in the zoo there are reminders of the city surrounding them with sounds of cars flowing by on the nearest freeway.
All musings are interrupted by the sudden appearance of a rainbow-colored snow cone hovering in her vision. Standing off to the side of the park bench, Mark holds a blue snow cone while offering her the other.
"Wasn't sure what you might like, so I figured rainbow was the way to go."
"Love rainbows," Aurie grins, accepting the proffered treat. "Thanks, Dr. Sloan!"
"I thought we were friends," Mark gently chides, settling next to her on the park bench. Frowning slightly in confusion, she nods, unable to answer because her mouth is full of shaved ice. "Then call me Mark."
Swallowing quickly to protest, her face twists into a grimace. Mark's brow furrows in concern and he leans in for a closer look.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Aurie rasps, reaching up to massage the area between her eyes. "Brain freeze."
Mark winces in sympathy and straightens up. Dropping her hand, she looks at him with slightly watery eyes and manages to give a weak grin.
"Guess it serves me right for calling you Dr. Sloan."
"That's all right," Mark chuckles, waving it off. "I was just teasing you. You can call me anything you like." Leaning in again he lowers his tone. "Just don't call me late for dinner."
Aurie snickers and begins eating her snow cone again. Much slower this time.
"So how are you liking it so far?" Mark gestures in general at the zoo.
"This is pretty good, but a snow cone is a snow cone," she replies without looking at him as she takes another bite.
"I meant the zoo," Mark replies dryly.
"Oh, uh, heh," Aurie sheepishly grins, finally looking at him. Recovering immediately, she perks up. "This is such a cool place! The best part was when that loudmouth ignored the warnings and got peed on by that black rhino," she laughs. "I thought the tour guide was B. . when she said rhinos pee horizontally without lifting their legs or anything or they can shoot that far. Even with their sucky eyesight, I wouldn't be stupid to tempt it by standing behind it like that."
Mark joins in the laughter.
"The look on his face was priceless," he manages somewhat. "His wife didn't look too happy either."
"Nope," she agrees, calming a bit more. "I'm so glad they didn't let him back on the tram. Even several feet away he stunk!"
Falling into an easy, companionable silence they continue enjoying their snow cones. Looking up from her almost empty paper cone, Aurie hesitantly breaks the silence.
"Thanks for everything, Mark, but you didn't have to do this. I can pay for myself."
Pausing to dig the dregs at the bottom of his cone with a plastic spoon, Mark looks over at her. He notices how hard she's trying to mask her emotions and can tell her pride makes her uneasy with him paying for everything.
"Aurie, I want to do this. I'm enjoying spending time with you. Don't think for one moment I'm not having fun."
Aurie nods in acceptance, but he can tell she's far from being reassured.
"Look, it's not like I get to do this very often. Steve has a very busy schedule, and my other friends lead busy lives."
"Don't you have any grandkids to hang out with?" Aurie eyes him with interest.
Mark shakes his head as he digs into his cone again.
"Not yet."
"Why? Didn't your son ever marry and have kids or even just have kids with a girlfriend?"
"He's never been married," he explains with a hint of disappointment in his voice. "And he's a bit old-fashioned, so he wouldn't have kids without being married. But he's engaged now," he happily states.
"Congratulations," Aurie smiles.
"Thank you."
"Is your son an only child?" A look of sadness crosses Mark's features making her realize she touched on something painful. "I-I'm sorry," she stammers hastily. "I didn't mean to be nosy. Forget I said anything."
For something to do, she tips the remaining contents of the cone into her mouth to cover her embarrassment. Mark lays a gentle hand on her arm, and she straightens up to look at him warily.
"It's all right. You can ask me anything you like," Mark says gently. He settles back again and sighs deeply before continuing. "Steve had a younger sister named Carol." He smiles sadly at the memory. "She had been married twice, but never had any kids." Pausing to look down briefly, Mark then raises his head and stares out at the passersby. "She died last year," he finishes quietly.
Aurie tries thinking of saying something, even sorry, but knows nothing would be good enough. Instead, she chooses to remain quiet. Thinking the mood needs lightening she figures moving the conversation to safer topics is the best bet.
"Does seem kinda unfair you don't have a ton of grandkids yet," she teases in a light tone. "You seem like the 'World's Best Grandpa' type."
Mark looks back at her and smiles.
"Well, thank you."
Mark goes along with the topic change. Thinking about Carol still hurts a lot and probably always will. It's not something he wants to deal with right now.
"Just so you know, I have done my best to encourage Steve. It took him until middle age, but he finally found the girl he wanted to marry. So, there's hope yet."
"She must be pretty special if he's waited so long to get married. Most people don't think twice about it and get married right away." Aurie crumples the empty paper cone and tosses it into the trashcan next to her side of the bench. "Then again, they usually get divorced right away too."
"That's true," Mark nods in agreement. "And she is pretty special. Her name is Ellen and Steve is just crazy about her." Mark crumples up his empty cone, tossing it one-handed to sail over their heads into the trashcan. "Nothing but net," Mark grins, standing up.
Aurie gets up and joins him as they walk together along the paved path.
"When are they getting married?"
"Well, that I don't know yet."
"If they're so crazy about each other, wouldn't they be rushing to the altar?" Aurie frowns in confusion.
Mark sighs again as they walk towards the tropical rainforests.
"The timing hasn't quite worked out for them. Ellen's a reporter and she used to work for a gossip magazine."
"Like the Enquirer?
"Worse. Like the ones with headlines about women who are pregnant with the Loch Ness Monster's baby," Mark replies dryly.
"Or that Elvis is living in a trailer deep in the wilds of Montana raising pygmy moose," Aurie quips with a smirk.
"Now you're getting the idea."
They enter the enclosure of a large avian exhibit full of colorful squawking birds flying and chasing each other in the trees above.
"Now she works for a national news magazine as a regional correspondent, but it's a position that requires a great deal of travel throughout the western and northwestern states. Sometimes she's not even here long enough for anything more than a quick, 'Hi, how are you?'"
Mark stops and leans on a railing lining the path to watch a peacock making its way through the ground foliage in front of him.
"Must make it hard to plan a wedding," Aurie replies joining him at the rail. 'Or a marriage,' she wryly thinks.
"It certainly does," Mark muses as he looks at his watch. "Well, it's almost one, how 'bout we start heading back so we can meet Steve?"
"Sure," Aurie agrees as they start walking out. "I've had my fill of monkeys tossing shit at each other," she adds with a grin.
"Aurie!"
"What?" she asks in confusion.
"Your language," Mark admonishes sternly.
"What I'd say…" her voice trails off and her eyes widen in realization. "Oh. Yeah. I forgot. Sorry."
"Just watch it a little more closely. You don't need to be using such, uh…" Mark struggles for the right word. "Colorful language," he states, raising his eyebrows and giving a definitive nod.
"I'll try. Promise," Aurie agrees, confused as to why it's such a big deal.
After a few moments of walking along the zoo path in silence, Mark turns to Aurie with a quizzical look in his eye.
"You know, you haven't said much about yourself."
"What do you mean?" she asks, caught off guard and giving him a blank look. "I've told you the basics. There's not much more to tell."
Mark's glare cuts her off from saying anything more. Sighing in resignation, she raises her hands in surrender.
"Okay, all right. What do you want to know?"
"I'm not prying, Aurie," he insists. "I just would like to get to know you better. So how about you tell me what happened to your mother after she confronted Spencer about her pregnancy?"
They continue walking and Mark wonders if she's going to answer his question when she finally speaks, much to his relief.
"Well, not long after Mom confronted Mr. Davis, my Abuelo showed up. My Abuela hadn't heard from Mom in ages and started worrying and when she worries no one gets peace. So, he had to come all the way here and was really surprised to find her pregnant. He couldn't convince her to go back with him, so he called immigration on her. That's how she got kicked back to Mexico where she had me."
"Your grandfather reported your mother?" Mark asks in disbelief.
"Pretty much," Aurie shrugs.
"So where were you born?" Mark asks as they pass through the 'Exit' gate of the zoo into the parking lot.
"In Cholula. It's located 'bout a half-hour from Mexico City. I lived with my grandparents for a while before ending up back with Mom later on. She wanted back in the States badly and it's hard to do that with a baby in tow."
When they reach Mark's convertible, he opens the passenger door for her before coming around to settle behind the wheel. He starts the car and then drops the top before backing out of the space.
Aurie relaxes in the warm sunshine, enjoying the scenery as they cruise down the road. Thinking it's awesome riding around in such a cool car.
As they maneuver through traffic, Mark muses about the little information she's giving. Clearly, there's more to it, but he's reluctant to push harder or she'll never trust him as a friend she can confide in. He suspects she has few people on her side and even fewer she can trust.
"So, you're no longer living with your mom, right?" Mark finally ventures.
"Not anymore," Aurie replies in a tone that makes it obvious she isn't going to say more.
Catching the hint, Mark passes on pressing for more details. For now, anyway.
"Do you have any siblings?"
"Nope. Only child."
"Where do you live now?"
"Tucson. And before you ask, I'm a freshman at Ocotillo High."
"You're catching on," Mark chuckles, earning a grin. "If you don't mind my asking, are you in foster care or living with someone?"
Aurie considers the question before deciding to answer.
"I live on my own. I got into this program called Youth On Their Own. They help kids who've been abandoned or don't live with their parents to stay off the streets and in school. They helped me get an apartment and a job to help pay for it. They also help if I need extra food in case the food stamps run out and with school supplies too. I have to stay in school and keep decent grades. Oh, and stay out of trouble."
"Not something you have to worry much about, right?"
"Mostly." She grins at Mark's arched brow. "I don't go looking for trouble, but I'll finish whatever gets started by someone else."
"Fair enough," Mark smirks.
"It's a great program that's supported me a lot," she adds. "Kept me out of foster care and being bounced all over and kept me off the streets. It's for the long haul too. They don't just stop helping you when you graduate. They want you to become a successful adult."
"Sounds like it," Mark agrees. "Is it a non-profit?"
"Yep. They rely on donations. Even better they're kinda like your family and give you whatever counseling or support you need so you don't get lost in the world."
"What about your health care?"
"They help hook you up with that too. I've got medical, dental, and vision."
"That's impressive," Mark replies in amazement.
"They're amazing," she agrees. "I'm not sure where I'd be if it weren't for them."
He drives onto the parking lot of a small strip mall and pulls into a parking space.
"Well, here we are," he gestures at BBQ Bobs.
A heavy weight drops into Aurie's stomach. She got so distracted by the ride and talking to Mark she completely forgot about meeting his son, Steve, for lunch. She isn't sure why she's so reluctant to meet Steve, especially after meeting and dealing with Lawrence Taylor, but he hasn't agreed to take a paternity test and he happens to be a cop. Cops don't seem to ever like her.
Finishing putting the top back up, Mark cuts the engine and turns to Aurie.
"I don't know about you, but I'm starving!"
Without waiting for a reply, he exits the car. Following his lead, she opens the door and gets out, figuring it's better to get it over with.