"...and this is where my boss Jason lives."
Clay stopped his Nova outside of 522 Ludlow Drive and turned the engine off as he finished his sentence. Katie had been very compliant the whole morning and seemed to be in as good a mood one could hope for in these circumstances, so when they had finished breakfast and gotten dressed, Clay had managed to bring the both of them, the car seat and a backpack (turned make-shift diaper bag) down to his car. It had taken him an embarrassing long time to install the car seat, but thankfully he'd found a helpful youtube video, and when he was decently sure he'd installed it correctly he'd had to figure out how to securely buckle Katie into the chair.
When he'd finally managed that and had sat himself behind the wheel he'd been pleased with himself but he'd also realized that his beloved Nova? Not a good family car. With Katie's chair installed in the passenger seat it was almost impossible for anyone to sit in the small backseat so if he wanted to go anywhere with both Katie and Stella he really needed to make another visit to the dealership on Lynnhaven.
It had taken them 20 minutes to drive from his apartment to Jason's house, and while he'd narrated the drive as good as he could, Katie had been quietly watching the world through the passenger window while absently playing with a soft bunny she'd insisted on bringing.
"You ready to meet some more new people, Kitty Kat?" Clay asked and smiled widely as the little girl giggled at his new nickname for her.
"Me ready." she answered with a wide grin and as Clay got out and walked around to the passenger side she waved her bunny at him.
Clay unclipped the harness and lifted Katie out, placing her on the ground and then grabbed the backpack he'd tossed into the back. As he shouldered the bag he held out his hand to his sister and she grabbed onto his hand with a firm grip.
As they made their way up the driveway to the front door it opened and Jason stepped out.
"Hey, Jace." Clay said with a nod in greeting but he was then stopped in his tracks as Katie stopped walking beside him.
Turning towards her he found her chewing on her bottom lip and looking with big eyes at the man on the porch. Clay smiled gently and then lowered himself down so that he could catch her eyes.
"What's up, buttercup?" he asked and took her small hands in his.
Katie didn't answer but shifted her gaze from her brother to Jason and back again before holding her hands up, wanting to be held.
With a small chuckle, Clay grabbed her under her armpits and swung her up into his arms and then made his way over to Jason.
"Hey, Kid," Jason said as they approached and bumped knuckles with his rookie. He then turned to the little girl in Clay's arms and smiled at her when she met his eyes. "and you must be Katie." he continued and held his fist out to her as well.
Clay and Jason both chuckled when Katie lifted her own hand and bumped knuckles back, which made her hide her face against Clay's shoulder.
"Come on in." Jason said and gestured at his guest to follow him inside.
As they entered the house, Clay shrugged the backpack off and left it beside the front door and then followed Jason into the kitchen. After taking a seat at the table he helped Katie out of her jacket but when he tried to put her down she held on tight to his arm so he resettled her in his lap.
"You want a cup of coffee?" Jason asked as he approached the coffee maker he still hadn't worked out how to use.
Seeing the look on Bravo 1's face Clay shook his head. "Nah, I'm good for now."
Jason veered over to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water and then glanced over his shoulder at the girl on Clay's lap.
"Apple or orange juice for the little miss?"
Clay shrugged and looked down at Katie.
"Would you like some juice Katie?"
Katie nodded her head, making her hair fly around her face.
"Do you want Apple or orange?" Clay asked as he pushed the hair back behind her ears.
"Apple." she answered softly, but loud enough for both Clay and Jason to hear.
"Good choice." Jason answered by the fridge and pulled the bottle out before turning to the cabinet he knew housed the cups they'd used when Mikey had been a toddler.
After filling one of the cups half way and putting the bottle back Jason made his way back to the table and handed Clay his water bottle and sat the cup down in front of Katie.
"Are you home alone today?" Clay asked as he looked around the room.
"Yeah, Alana is showing a house but Emma should be home in a little while, she has a half day today." Jason answered and smiled at Katie as she grabbed the cup with both hands and took a drink.
"So, what did they tell you yesterday? What's their plan for you guys?"
"They didn't really say that much," Clay answered with a shrug, "it was mainly just a lot of papers to fill out or sign. But from what I gathered we shouldn't have to do much more since I'm the only relative willing to step up. They have to file some paperwork but then guardianship should be transferred to me and if I understood Ms. Ross we shouldn't even have to step in front of a judge. The social worker is coming for a visit next week so I hope to clear everything up then."
"That sounds way too simple but I guess that's good and should make it easier for everyone." Jason said as he grabbed his notebook that had been resting next to him on the table.
Clay, having helped Katie put the cup back down on the table, looked up at his boss and then down at the now open notebook.
"I'm guessing you have something worked out that I don't?"
"I always do." Jason answered with a grin. "With our work being what it is, you are going to need help with her, whether or not Stella wants to help out when we catch a spin."
Clay opened his mouth to protest but promptly shut it as he remembered his girlfriend's look both last night and this morning when they'd talked about Katie. He didn't know if she'd be up to being solely responsible when he was spun up and even if she did, she still had a job to do.
"Okay, so what's your plan, Jace?"
Emma glanced at the Nova parked on the street as she pulled into the driveway. She snorted slightly at the sight of a car seat in the front and shook her head to herself as she turned the car off. The mismatch of the muscle car with a car seat was kind of adorable but really, Clay would probably have to invest in another vehicle.
As she stepped out of the car and walked up to the front door she could hear shrieks of happiness coming from inside and as she opened the door she was met with her dad holding a blond little girl upside down as he tickled her.
"Well that explains the noise, good thing old Mrs. Gray moved out or she would be sending you a noise warning, dad." Emma said and when the three people in the room turned their heads towards her she smiled at them and gave a little wave.
"Hi, Em." Jason said as he turned the girl right way up and sat her back down on the floor. "You're home earlier than I expected."
"Yeah, the teacher of my last class was out sick so we got out earlier." she answered and gave her dad a hug as she walked over to him.
Katie had made her way over to Clay but when Emma met her gaze she smiled back hesitantly before burying her head against Clay's leg.
"Hi, Clay." Emma said as she approached the pair and gave him a side hug.
"Hi, Emma, good to see you." Clay answered as he hugged her back.
With a smile Emma then dropped down on her haunches. "Hi there. I'm Emma. What's your name?" she asked and held her hand out to the girl.
Katie looked up from her hiding place and after looking up at Clay, who nodded down at her, Katie placed her hand in Emma's and shook it slowly.
"'m Katie…" she mumbled, pulled her hand back and wrapped it back into the fabric of Clay's jeans, holding onto her new safe place.
"It's very nice to meet you Katie." Emma answered and then stood back and looked at the clock. Seeing that it was a few minutes past 12 she glanced at the men in the room. "Have you guys had lunch?"
They both shook their heads and Emma sighed.
"What about Katie, have she had lunch?"
Another double head shake had Emma rolling her eyes and when she looked back down at Katie she was now looking back at her so Emma held her hand out to the little girl.
"Do you want to see if we can find some lunch? I'm sure you're hungry."
When Katie grabbed her hand Emma smiled down at her and when she met Clay's gaze she grinned at him before steering the little girl towards the kitchen.
Jason and Clay looked at each other for a minute before they followed the girls, lunch sounded good to them as well.
Clay, Emma and Jason all fought to hold back their laughs as they watched Katie fight against sleep while still trying to finish her mac and cheese lunch. When her head almost fell into the bowl Jason couldn't hold back and a snort left him which made Katie snap back up.
"Yeah, I think you're finished Katie Kate." Clay said as he rose from his chair and removed the bib from Katie's neck.
Emma had pulled out both a bib and a table attached high chair from the pantry, explaining that they kept them on hand for when RJ or other kids visited, and as Clay moved to lift Katie out of the chair Emma stopped him by holding out a pack of baby wipes.
"Better wipe her hands and face before lifting her out." she said and opened the lid.
Clay grabbed one and after a quick wipedown he lifted the now almost sleeping girl out of the high chair.
"You can put her down in the big bedroom." Jason said and pointed towards the bedroom he had once shared with Alana.
"I'll show you." Emma said and stood from her chair, stopping Clay's protest before he could start them.
As they stepped into the bedroom, Emma moved over to the window and pulled the blinds down, making the room dusky.
Clay moved to the bed and laid Katie down on top of the bedspread. When he pulled back her eyes opened to meet his.
"'aci and bunny…" she mumbled as she fought her eyes from falling back closed.
"I think she means her pacifier and bunny. Her pacifier is in the backpack by the front door and bunny should be on the couch, could you grab them, Emma?" Clay asked in a low voice, trying to not wake Katie up more.
"Sure, I'll be right back." she answered and hurriedly left the room.
After grabbing the paci out of the backpack she found the bunny sitting in the middle of the couch and after grabbing it she also grabbed a blanket from the basket next to the couch and then returned to the bedroom.
"Here you go:" she whispered as she entered the room and handed Clay the three items.
Clay nodded his head in thanks and after giving Katie her pacifier and bunny, she was already asleep as he spread the blanket over her.
"Out like a light." he whispered back and gestured towards the door, making both of them move out of the dusky room and back into the light.
When they returned to the kitchen Jason had cleared the table and was in the middle of putting the dishes in the dishwasher.
"She sleeping?" he asked as he glanced over at them.
"Yup," Clay said with a smile, "I don't think a bomb would wake her up right now."
They all chuckled and Jason returned to the dishes while Emma and Clay sat back down at the table.
"So, Jace said you're interested in helping out with Katie in the coming months?" Clay asked her as he took a drink from the glass Jason had left by his place.
"Yeah, I'm taking a year off and I like kids and also, taking care of Katie sounds way more fun than finding a job at like McDonald's or something."
Clay nodded his head in agreement. "But you know it wouldn't be a steady schedule, right? Our job is…"
"I know, Clay." Emma interrupted. "I know you can be spun up at no notice and be gone for an undetermined amount of time. I'm fine with that because that means I'll have some freedom in what I do from day to day and mostly just be one call away if you need me."
"Em and I talked about this yesterday, kid. It's gonna work out just fine." Jason added from where he closed the dishwasher and washed his hands.
As Jason dried his hands off his phone started to buzz on the kitchen island and as he grabbed it his eyes flickered from it to the table.
"What's up?" Clay asked, seeing his bosses gaze.
"Ray asked if you're still here and if the team can come over and meet Katie?"
Clay glanced at his watch, looked towards the closed bedroom door and then back at his boss.
"I don't see why not, but she'll probably nap for another," Clay glanced back down at his watch again and then up at Emma who he knew had way more experience of toddlers than he did, "hour or so?" Emma nodded in agreement.
"We'll just have a team dinner or something." Jason said and quickly texted Ray back, letting him know that the team was free to come over and to tell the rest of them.
Emma shook her head with a wry smile as she watched her father and then she pulled her own phone out of her back pocket. She needed to text her mom because she knew if Bravo were storming the castle, her mom would want their female counterparts to join in.
