THE CHASE - Connor x OC (I Am Sequel)

Chapter 38

As soon as I started spending time with Hamas and Ahmed, I quickly realized that this whole time I had been wrong. Children are adorable, perfect, and I am desperate to be a mother.

I am, of course, kidding.

However, it's not like Connor would think. It's not like these kids were particularly bad and I just need my own so that I can raise them correctly. No. Hamas and Ahmed are actually really good children. They listen well, don't cry often, and aren't particularly defiant. They're independent and ask for help when they need it.

In short, these kids are amazing. The more time I spend with them, the more in love I fall. They're wonderful to take care of, and rewarding.

But I don't want to be a mom any more than I did before.

It's not surprising though. Just because your friend gets a baby doesn't mean oh-poof-now you want one.

No, of course. It's more complex than that. It always is.

Not wanting kids doesn't devalue me as a person. And maybe I'll change my mind in a year or two. For now though, this just isn't my dream.

And I have my reasons, but none of them are because I doubt myself as a mother anymore. In fact, I think Connor and I would be damn good parents. Just...I want more time with him. I want more time between us. And kids, well, kids are a time sink. It's not like you never have time with your significant other, or to yourself for that matter, but it's much less than it used to be.

I want to be around Connor as much as possible, at least for right now. Well, all of this really is ignoring what might change because of the mistakes I've made.

The truth is, what I did was terrible and I know it. Nick, understandably, looked like he wanted to slap me at first, but the tension left his eyes quickly and instead I was left with a distinctly different aura. It was less like I had cheated on my husband and more like I had cheated on a test. I suppose that's the minimization in Nick.

It was getting late though, so I tucked in the twins, and set up their baby monitors before heading downstairs and sitting on the couch.

As I did so, Nick burst in through the door with Gavin following.

"We left as soon as we heard the news," Nick said running inside.

"News? What news?" I asked, my breathing getting harder. I started running through my mind what could've gone wrong. Was it Connor? That's really all that Nick would rush home for, isn't it? Connor? My husband? Did something happen to Connor?

"You haven't heard?" Nick asked shaking his head confused.

"Is it Connor?"

"No," Nick sighed, rushing over to the TV. He grabbed the remote, and tried hitting the buttons to turn them on, but none of them worked. He slammed it against the counter mumbling expletives before pointing it at the TV again.

"-Unfortunately, we have no choice but to remove the case regarding Asher Kam from Detroit Police Department and the Federal Government's hands. The new developments are startling," An on-screen Markus said shaking his head.

The chyron read "Jericho maintains right to jurisdiction over Android criminal case."

I stared anxiously.

"Something happened. Ethan did something," Nick explained. "We're not even to the grand jury yet. There's no reason for Jericho to be in this unless he did something stupid."

"Or me. What if I did something wrong?" I asked nervously.

"Markus would give you a heads up, don't you think? But this is bad. Whatever it is, and whatever the reason, it's bad," Nick explained.

I threw my hands up in the air and began to nervously pace.

"We don't have enough evidence to convict him when he inevitably claims deviancy or a coding error caused it. We needed to create a psychological profile of him to prove that this is more than a coding issue," I explained. "That's what we've been doing. That's what we've been working on. Ethan would never fuck this up this bad. Our biggest mistakes have been maybe taking out a file or two without properly checking them out, but that's it," I explained. My phone began to buzz in my pocket, and I sighed. It was a text from Connor.

EB in hospital. Meet me in Jericho. I love you.

- CA

"Ethan is in the hospital," I mumbled looking down at my phone. Reading that 'I love you' alleviated far more fears than I could've anticipated. Beyond that though, how did Connor know that Ethan is in the hospital?

"I see those gears working. Come on, Bolts. Leave now, ask questions later," Nick nodded. "Call a taxi."

I called a taxi and followed Nick outside of his house where we got in, and left for Jericho, leaving Gavin with the twins again.