Soon their hotel room suite was filled with two hotel security guards, police officers, along with her parents, who got the shocking call a few minutes after Jon had called authorities.
"How did this even happen? Why would someone target you two?" Stephanie asked, looking over at Jon and Kennedy, who sat speechless.
"I-I have no idea. I swear to god, Jon and I were in here finishing up brunch and I answered the door thinking room service may have forgotten something to give us, but no, it was just this baby." Kennedy said motioning her hands to the baby still sleeping in the stroller that was now in their room.
"Do you guys have any guesses on whose baby this might be?" Officers asked them and they both shook their heads.
"No, and none of our friends who have children would drop off their baby to us like this—I've never even seen this child before." Jon told the officers, who jotted everything down.
"So what happens now?" Paul asked them.
"We take the baby into custody of the state, try to find the parents or guardians. If they don't turn up, we'll run some DNA tests to find them and issue a warrant for their arrest. Then baby either gets taken in by other family or foster care." They spoke, making Kennedy and Jon worrisome.
Kennedy's knees bounced up and down as she bit her lip, thinking about how and why this could happen. Her eyes drifted to the officers who wore gloves unpacking the diaper bag full of clothes and other baby items. But it was a red and white beanie that caught her eye when it was taken out of the bag.
Everything came back in flashes when she remembered who the belongings belonged to.
She stood up from her place on the couch, pointing to it. Everyone watched on confused.
"Babe?" Jon asked, watching her, but she didn't respond.
"C-Can I see that?" She stuttered, walking over to the officer who looked over at his colleagues, giving him permission to give her the item.
She held it in her hands, inspecting it, trying to think back in her memory where she had seen this hat before. Then it hit her.
"What city are we in?" She asked, turning around to her parents and Jon.
"Jacksonville. Is something wrong, Kennedy?" Her dad asked.
She stood there with a blank face, turning pale almost, which is when Jon got up grabbing her by the shoulders snapping her out of her haze.
"You're scarring us, doll. Tell me what's going on." He said sternly.
"That baby is Zoey." She whispered.
"Who?" He asked her again confused.
"Zoey. Remember that little girl we visited a few days before Mania? Her names Bella, she has cancer and doesn't have much time to live. This is her sister, Zoey. I remember this is the hat that Bella was wearing. And their mother is Sonia." Kennedy said, recalling everything she remembered from that day.
"A-are you sure?" Jon asked, taking a deep breath as she nodded, walking over to the baby.
"Y-Yea, and this is the same blanket she was in when I was holding her, remember?" She pointed out to the light pink blanket embroidered with daisies, which was the same one from that day, and finally Jon had remembered.
"So you two know who this child is?" The officers asked, and they nodded.
"We met this baby and her sister during one of our company visits to the children's pediatric cancer unit in Orlando. Their mom, Sonia, told us they weren't living the best lives financially, and I gave her my number in case she ever needed anything." Kennedy said.
"You what?!" Jon asked, as this was the first time of him hearing any of this.
"When I told you I went to the bathroom to fix up my makeup, I actually went to go find Sonia, and she was breastfeeding Zoey, and I told her that if she ever needed anything or anyone to talk to, she could contact me." Kennedy confessed.
"But she didn't contact you, did she?" Jon asked, and she shook her head, reaching for her phone and looking through her calls and messages, and there was nothing from Sonia.
"Is there someway we can find this woman? I mean, they probably have her records at the hospital in Orlando, since that's where her daughter is." Stephanie suggested, and the officers nodded, speaking into their radios.
"We're going to head down and check the CCTV's to try to find her on the cameras. Hopefully, see if we can find a license plate number or something that could help." The hotel security guards said, escorting themselves out of the room.
"We're just going to need some written statements from the both of you. It should only take a couple of minutes." The cops said, passing them both a clipboard to write about what happened and what they know.
"Thank you, guys." An officer said, taking the clipboard.
Cries erupted and filled the room, causing everyone to look around and decide what to do.
"Are you guys going to take her?" Kennedy asked, and they nodded.
"To the nearest foster care facility until we can find her mother, that is unless you two want to keep custody of her until we find mom." An officer said.
"We can do that?!" Kennedy asked, biting her thumb as the officers nodded and her eyes drifted to Jon's.
"Can we just have a minute to talk about it?" Jon asked, closing his eyes taking Kennedy's hand as they walked into the bathroom and closed the door.
"Is this what you want?" He asked her, simply rubbing his temples.
"Only if you do. I mean, there must be a reason why she asked us and went all this way to find us." She told him, shaking her head, trying not to cry.
"I-I get that, but this is just all so fuckin' out of the blue." He told her, and she nodded understandingly.
"I know, trust me. I know how you feel. I'm just as shocked and confused, and torn about this. I only want this if you want this too. Hopefully, they can find Sonia and we can get down to the bottom of this and get them the help they need." Kennedy proposed, and Jon nodded, taking another deep breath.
"You have a point. But if they don't find her by tonight, what are we going to do? We have a plane to catch to the next city."
She sighed and shrugged her shoulders, "Then I guess we'd need to turn her over to the state and have her in foster care, and we can hope for the best outcome."
He nodded and held her face in his hands. "We doing this?"
"Yes." she nodded, closing her eyes and he nodded, giving her an assured look.
The couple walked out of the bathroom and nodded their heads at the officers.
"We're gonna go ahead and keep her until you find Sonia. You guys can contact us if you find anything, but if you can't find her by the end of tonight, we're gonna go ahead and turn her back into you guys." Kennedy said, her parents looking in shock.
"That sounds great. We'll contact you using the information on the reports you've made. You guys aren't in any trouble, by the way—this is a written piece of consent that the baby is now in your custody. So let's say that the mother does try to make false claims against you two. You will not be found guilty or arrested for any charges because we have her writing and her on video dropping off the child. The only thing left we need to do is find the mom and hopefully get this resolved so we can all go on i peace." The officer assured them, and they nodded.
"We're also going to leave the diaper bag with you. We only took a few items needed for fingerprints, but please feel free to call us if you change your mind. Here's my badge number and name." The officer showed them his information and Kennedy made a note on her phone, just in case.
"Thank you guys. Hopefully, we hear back from you all soon." Jon said, shaking each of their hands.
As the officers left, Kennedy slowly picked up Zoey from the stroller and stared at her in her arms.
"Are you two serious?" Paul asked as Stephanie hit his chest.
"I-I can't just leave this baby, dad. There's a reason why Sonia did this. I know there is." Kennedy said as Jon shut the door and turned his attention to them.
"What we need to do is find you two a lawyer in case this gets ugly. I'm in shock." Stephanie sighed, brushing her hair back and thinking about what to do next.
"I don't know what to do." Kennedy said, holding the still crying baby.
"She must need a diaper change or milk." Paul suggested going to the diaper bag and pulling out some items.
"I'll help Kennedy and Jon. Paul, can you get on the phone with my dad and let him know what's going on?" Steph asking taking the items from his hands and her husband nodded, leaving the hotel room.
"Shhh, it's ok Zoey." Kennedy hummed, changing the little one's diaper before Steph threw the dirty one out.
Jon was in too much shock to even comprehend what was happening. This all felt like some kind of sick, twisted nightmare that he wanted to escape. Sure, he was talking to Kennedy about having children, but this isn't what he meant.
"Jon?" Kennedy called out, turning around seeing him sitting on the couch in disbelief from the whole ordeal.
"Honey, are you alright?" She asked again, walking over to him with the baby in her hands as Stephanie watched from afar.
"Are-are we really doing this?" He whispered, looking at her, then the baby.
"It's just for today, Jon." She replied, and he shook his head.
Stephanie, sensing the apprehension, decided to step in knowing that Jon needed a breather after everything that went down so quickly.
"Kennedy, why don't you give Zoey a bottle, and I'll talk with Jon outside? He needs a second, ok?" Stephanie said, handing her daughter the bottle of formula that was made.
Steph patted Jon's shoulder as he nodded, standing up and heading out the room with his soon to be mother-in-law.
"I know you're in shock, Jon-"
"How can I not be? I know I agreed to take this child in for the day, but what happens if the mom doesn't show up? How can any of us live with ourselves knowing that child is gonna be put through an unfair system?" Jon spoke hoarsely, pacing in short distances through the hallway as Steph watched on.
"Jon, we're going to do everything we can to make sure that this baby is reunited with her family. The authorities are doing what they can and-"
"You don't understand, Steph. No money, no hugs, no legal action is going to give that family a good life. I could never live with myself knowing that we could be putting this child back into the hands of an unfit mother who would leave her kid with absolute strangers. For all she knows, Kennedy and I could be serial killers, but she was dumb enough to trust us-"
"You and Kennedy are not dumb, Jon" Steph said sternly in a quiet voice, not wanting Kennedy to hear on the inside.
"I understand your concern and frustration with this entire situation, but the only thing we can do right now is to prepare ourselves for the worst. You and Kennedy need a lawyer in case this thing goes south. Paul and I will handle the legalities, but what I want you to do right now is go in there and help my daughter take care of that little girl. There's a reason why her mother entrusted you two. Now go and do it." She said, pointing her finger in his chest before walking away.
Jonathan sighed, taking a deep breath and nodding. He was acting with his heart, which is totally uncommon considering the only person he ever thought with his heart about was Kennedy. He slowly opened the door to see her still feeding the baby, who had stopped crying.
"Is everything ok?" Kennedy asked, looking over at Jon who was making his way towards them.
He nodded silently and watched on before Kennedy pulled the finished bottle out and proceeded to burp the child.
"We're doing the right thing, right?" He whispered and Kennedy put on a tight smile and nodded.
"I think so, do you?" She asked and again he nodded as they sat in silence.
_
A couple hours at the hotel room seemed to have eased the nervous Jon, who calmed down a bit after his tangent that he went on with Stephanie. He knew that she was right and that they needed some sort of cushion for their asses in case something went wrong in their favor. He trusted her family to have their backs and ensure that they both were going to be ok in this situation.
Jon had never had experience with a newborn like Zoey, considering the fact that he was gone most of the time when his sister had her daughter Alice, so he didn't know much about going into taking care of kids. Sure, he helped babysit Kennedy's sisters and his own niece, but this was just different.
"Why is she so fussy?" Jon asked Kennedy, who laughed lightly and shrugged.
"Probably a growth spurt. I hear once they reach the six-month mark, it happens." She told him, giving the baby her finger to hold as they both smiled.
"You know a lot, huh?" Jon chuckled, watching her play lightly with the baby and she shrugged.
"You learn a lot when you help raise your three sisters and cousins." She told him, and he nodded.
"Do you think they'll find her?" He sought looked up at her and she took a deep breath.
"I hope they do, but who knows, she could've escaped by now. It's been six hours and still heard nothing." She sighed, looking down at her phone, hoping for a call from the police. The only people they heard from so far were her parents ensuring the couple that they had consulted a lawyer and her grandfather who told them they weren't needed at today's house show and instead advised them to stay at the hotel under they get word.
"What if she doesn't show up?" Jon said out loud as Kennedy stared at him, so unsure of what that would mean.
"Are you saying you'd want to keep her?" Kennedy asked, and he closed his eyes, taking a second before opening them and looking at her again.
"I'm saying I want to do the best thing we can do, while still considering the feelings that both of us have about it." He told her and she smiled.
"I know what you mean, but let's just hope for the best for right now, ok?" He said, leaning over to kiss him.
Her phone began ringing, and she pulled away. "Speaking of" she mumbled quickly, picking up her phone.
"Hi, this is Kennedy Levesque." She answered, getting up from the bed as Jon watched her walk around the room.
"Maybe they found your mommy." He whispered, picking up the rattle and shaking it above Zoey.
"Oh, that's great. Jon and I will head there now." Kennedy said before hanging up the phone and looking towards Jon with a smile.
"They have Sonia in custody—they're questioning her, but they said that we can go there and bring Zoey in hopes of coming down to a resolution." Kennedy told him and he nodded, getting up picking up Zoey in the process.
"Should we call your parents?" he asked while he set her up in the car seat that was also a stroller.
"Yea, I'm gonna call them right now. Do you need my help?" She asked, moving closer to him as he easily buckled her in.
"Nah, I'm fine, doll. Just get what you need and we can head out. Should we bring her diaper bag in case? She hasn't had a bottle in a few hours." He said, looking at his watch and she nodded, getting everything ready.
Kennedy quickly pulled on a coat before grabbing her bag and heading out the door with Jon. It felt so weird walking through the halls with a child they barely even knew, but they knew it was for a reason. But still, Kennedy couldn't help but feel a little warm inside seeing Jon care for this child, let alone be so passionate about ensuring that the child was safe.
"I'm pretty sure I just clip it in, right?" Jon asked, attempting to buckle the car seat into the car.
"There should be a little buckle thing." Kennedy told him from the trunk as she loaded up the stroller part.
"Got it." He whispered, hearing it click into place.
"Will you sit in the back with her?" He asked Kennedy, who smiled and nodded her head.
"I love you." He said, kissing her lips.
"I love you too, stud." She smiled at them before getting into the car and making their way to the police station.
When they arrived, her parents were already there since they had come from the house show.
"How has she been?" Paul asked, greeting them who had walked through the doors.
"Good, a little fussy, but good. We fed her a bottle like three hours ago, but she isn't hungry yet." Kennedy said, watching as Jon carefully clicked the seat into place on the stroller part.
"Where is she?" Jon asked, looking up at everyone.
"Back room. They said they'll call us in shortly." Steph said, and they all nodded, waiting, Jon rocking the stroller up and down to keep Zoey asleep until she would need a feed.
"He's a natural." Her mom whispered only loud enough for Kennedy to hear, as there was a small smile on her face.
"Jonathan Good & Kennedy Levesque?" an officer said, walking out of the hallway.
"Right here, can my in laws come in with us?" Jon asked, taking Kennedy and her parents back in a good way.
"Yea, of course." The officer said, leading the way as Jon pushed the stroller.
"Jonathan and Kennedy are here, along with her parents and Zoey."
Sonia whipped her head to the door, seeing the young couple she had met only once walk in with her daughter.
"Hi." she whispered quietly, looking down in shame.
"Hi? Is that really all you have to say? Are you not concerned about your daughter?" Jon demanded, parking the stroller and resting his hands in front of the table almost face to face with the woman. He needed her to feel remorseful about what she had done.
"I knew you two would take good care of her."
"Bullshit! You don't even know us." Jon said, slamming his fist down on the table quietly, so frustrated that this lady was nonchalant about her child's wellbeing.
"You're right, but she seemed like someone I could trust and, quite frankly, she was the only one I knew would help." Sonia said, looking over at Kennedy, who shook her head.
"So you thought dropping your daughter off outside our hotel room was the right way to go about it? You could've called or at least texted me and let me know that you needed help." Kennedy scolded, standing beside Jon to defend him.
"You don't understand-"
"You're right! We don't! How can you be so selfish to do this to Zoey, let alone Bella who's probably worried sick about her-"
The mother cut Kennedy off screaming, "Bella is dead!"
The room fell quiet as neither Jon nor Kennedy knew what to say, instead they just stood in shock, not expecting it.
"When?" Kennedy croaked, shaking his head.
"A week ago, I've been trying to go on, but I can't do it." She broke down.
"I'm so sorry." Jon apologized, feeling her own tears arise.
"I know doing this wouldn't solve the problem, but it'd at least it'd spare Zoey. I thought that leaving her with you two would at least make sure that she'd live a good life, one that I know I can't provide for her." Sonia said, as they nodded.
"If this is about money, then we can def-"
"No, no, no, no, while money might be a struggle, it's just not the full reason." which made Jon and Kennedy raise their brow.
"It's just that-"
Cries erupted the small room as Zoey had woken up. Both she and Jon went over to the stroller, Jon picking up the baby as Kennedy went into the diaper bag, preparing a bottle and draping a burp towel over his shoulder.
"They're so good." Sonia thought to herself, watching them quickly attend to her baby.
"Um-it's just that um- I don't think I can be a mom anymore." She said, watching as Jon began feeding Zoey and looking her dead in the eyes, confused and puzzled.
"What?" Kennedy said, shaking her head.
"After everything that happened with Bella, I can't do it anymore. I lost one of my daughters, and I had nobody. No family, no friends, no anything that helped me through this entire process. And to be quite honest, I just can't go on caring for a child, knowing that I can't even take care of myself." She said sadly.
"You don't mean that, Sonia." Kennedy said softly, but the older woman shook her head.
"No, I mean it with all of me. I love Zoey, but I know I can't be her mother. It wouldn't be fair to do that to her knowing that I gave all of my time to her sister and couldn't be there for a newborn."
"What about her father? Doesn't he want to be in her life?"
Sonia shook her head and continued to cry, Stephanie and Paul giving each other apologetic looks watching the scene.
"Their father hasn't been in their lives and doesn't plan to be. Trust me, he's the first person I contacted after Bella's death and he didn't even give a damn. That's when I knew I was alone and had to do something."
"So what do you want to do with Zoey?" Jon asked, looking over at Sonia, who nodded her head towards them.
"I want you and Kennedy to take her in." She said as Kennedy took a deep breath and shook her head.
"You don't understand Sonia, Jon and I have just begun life together. We don't even know if we're fit to be parents right now-"
"You are! Don't you see how Jon and you tend to her? You've already established it-"
"It's not easy!" Kennedy said, slamming her hands down on the metal table.
"Woman to woman, I understand what you're going through and how hard this is, but you have to understand that Jon and I don't live normal lives. Zoey won't have stability because we're always traveling and I just don't know if we can handle this right now, especially with where we are in our careers." Kennedy told her, shedding a few tears.
"She doesn't need a normal life! What she needs is people who love her and will care for her!" Sonia snapped back, taking Kennedy aback.
Jon had heard enough of this. He understood that Sonia was frustrated and only wanted the best for her daughter, however her snapping at Kennedy was the last straw and he knew he had to set things straight.
"Can you take over and go outside? I don't want her to be startled." Jon said, turning to Steph and Paul, who nodded, taking the little girl from his arms and walking out of the room to ensure that Zoey didn't hear any of what was about to go down.
"Don't you ever speak to my wife like that, you understand?" Jon said sternly, sticking up for Kennedy, and Sonia gulped.
"What you should be doing is thanking her for wanting to take in your daughter because if we hadn't she'd be in a foster home going through an unfair system." Jon said, pointing at Kennedy, then back at Sonia.
"None of us would be in this mess had you just called Kennedy and let her know what you needed instead of dropping your daughter off at our door. For christ sake, what if you had dropped her off to the wrong room and ended up putting your daughter in danger? You should be locked up for endangering your child." Jon spat, making the older woman cry.
"Jon, that's enough." Kennedy whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder.
He sighed and closed his eyes. "I know that you're mourning the loss of your other daughter, but it's not fair for you to put us into this without even really knowing us."
"I know, and I'm sorry for how this all went down. I never meant for this to get out of hand. I just wanted to leave Zoey without traumatizing her. I know I needed to leave earlier before I ended hurting her more. I just don't feel that mother's love for her anymore. I love her, but not as a mother. It's like I don't even see her as my daughter anymore because I'm so numb after everything that has happened to me."
Jon and Kennedy just didn't know what to say because there wasn't anything to say.
"And I'm not going to put Zoey in a foster home. I just can't do that. I've heard stories about children who age out of there and never given the support they need once they turn 18. So I understand if you two don't want to take her in because of all the trouble I've caused. If you guys don't want to consider it, then I'll take Zoey back and try to do the best I can to raise her." Sonia said.
The couple looked at each other, both of them feeling remorseful, not only for Sonia but for Zoey because they knew that if she were to be back in Sonia's care, it wouldn't be true mother love that was being given.
"Do you mind if Kennedy and I just talk outside for a bit?" Jon asked, and Sonia nodded.
He took her hand, walking out into the hallway where her parents were, Paul burping the baby as Stephanie watched.
"How was everything?" Paul asked, seeing them approaching.
"She doesn't love her daughter." Kennedy said, breaking down as she buried her face into Jon's chest sobbing. His arms wrapping around her body tightly.
"Oh, honey." Stephanie murmured, walking beside her daughter rubbing her back.
"How can she even say that? That's her daughter for god's sake," she wailed shaking her head.
"Kenny, we don't know her full life. She probably really does love this baby, but she can't do it right now. And she admitted that and that is better than her pretending that she does." Her mom said, consoling her.
"I-Is there something that we can do? There has to be something." Kennedy asked, looking up at her parents and Jon.
"There is, but are you two willing to do it for the right reasons or are you just feeling pitiful for Zoey?" Paul said, looking at the couple, who shook their heads.
"We talked to the lawyers earlier today, and we discussed this. If Sonia signs over the child's rights to you, then you and Jon would be the official guardians of Zoey. But that would also mean you would need to go through the adoption process, such as filing the adoption application, having a home study, and going through two hearings in court." Stephanie said, breaking down the process as Kennedy and Jon nodded, taking everything in.
"You two have to really think about this. You guys are young and this is a big decision that you'll be making. Raising a child is a huge responsibility, especially with the careers you two have now. You have to be committed to doing this because Zoey will be your daughter if you decide to do this. We'll support whatever decision you two make and we'll help you as much as we can, but you two have to be doing this for the right reasons with the right intentions." Paul lectured them as he patted Zoey's back.
"What do you think?" Kennedy sniffled, looking towards Jon, who thought for a second.
"Is there anyway we can test it out? Like a trial run to see if we really are fit for this type of thing. I know that Kennedy and I will be doing this for the right reasons because we want to give Zoey a good life with people who will love her, but we also need to consider how this will change our lives." Jon said and Kennedy nodded in agreement.
"What Sonia can do is give you and Kennedy temporary custody of Zoey for X amount of days or weeks. That way, you two can see how the parenting thing is like before you decide."
"How does that sound to you?" Jon bit his lip, looking at Kennedy, who wiped her tears away.
"I think it sounds good, but I only want to do this if you want to. I know it sucks having all of this on our shoulders right now, but I truly believe that if there are two people who can do it, it's us. We've been talking about having kids, and though this isn't the way we planned it, maybe this is what life has in store for us right now. And maybe we can do this for Zoey and give her the life and love she deserves." Kennedy said, and Jon nodded in agreement.
"We should go in and tell her then." Jon said, as Kennedy nodded.
"I love you, you know that? This is fuckin' shocking to me as it, but let's try it out ok? We're going to do the best we can for the time being before we make the big decision. Whatever happens next, know that I fucking' love you with all of me and everything is going to turn out ok." Jon said, holding her face in his hands as she nodded and smiled slightly.
"Let's do this."
_
"So Jon and I will have custody of Zoey until May 25th, which is when we'll meet here and discuss further on our decision." Kennedy said, sitting across the table from Sonia.
"Do you think we can push the date higher instead? May 19th instead." Sonia suggested.
"That only gives Kennedy and I a week and a half with Zoey. Why so soon?" Jon questioned, raising his brow.
"Bella's funeral is on the 19th, and it'd be nice having you guys there and Zoey. And that day you can decide what you want. I won't be mad if you guys decide not too, but I think it's best that you decide soon, because I don't want Zoey to get too attached to people who might leave." Sonia said softly.
"Fine, that sounds good." Kennedy sighed.
"We're gonna go have this in writing so we can have you guys sign it." an officer said, walking out of the room.
"Please take care of her, alright?" The mother said, looking over at the couple, who nodded.
"We're going to do our best." Kennedy reached out, resting her hand on top of hers.
Soon the officers were back presenting them with papers to fill out in order to get this situation in place and before you know it, Jon and Kennedy were officially the guardians of Zoey.
"Did you want to say bye to her first?" Jon asked, looking at the sleeping baby in the stroller a few feet away from Sonia, who shook her head no as tears welled up in her eyes.
"I don't want to make it harder than it already is. I know she'll be ok." Sonia smiled as Jon and Kennedy nodded sympathetically.
"We'll see you soon." Kennedy said, giving the woman a short hug before she and Jon walked out of the room with Zoey.
"Bye Zoe-Zoe." Sonia whispered, watched as they walked down the hallway and out the door.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this update! If you have any predictions for the book or any comments, please feel free to leave them. I love hearing back from my readers. Remember to vote and comment, don't be silent readers! Check out my other books, Little Ms. Lopez (Dean Ambrose) & Addiction (Seth Rollins).