Erin watched as Hank toured their new home, "Well, what do you think?" She carefully bit down on the tip of her index finger, "do you like it?"
Hank looked around the large open area, he couldn't deny it..the house was beautiful. It was an open floor plan and the back wall consisted of floor to ceiling windows filling the room with natural lighting, Jake and Emme already enjoying sliding across the oak floors in their socks.
"It's beautiful Erin...the kids seem to love it" he laughed as Jake wiped out and landed on his bottom with a thud and instantly giggled before getting up and repeating the action over and over again.
"It's pretty close to you"
Hank nodded, "I overreacted Erin, I'm happy for you all. You guys deserve this" he hugged her, "I'll take the older two for the day, once you start moving in"
Erin roared with laughter, "Anything to get out of the heavy lifting...am I right?"
Hank rubbed at his back, "I'm an old grandpa...I can't be lifting heavy boxes"
"That's funny, you don't seem to have any issues when it comes to work" she teased him, "it's alright, Ruzek and Atwater are helping and Kim is gonna keep Lucas for me"
It was hard to believe he was finally free, though he'd never be free from the overwhelming guilt that still consumed him all these years later.
He wasn't sure where he was headed, his sister had begged him to come live with her and her kids.
Problem was she lived in Chicago, he was afraid to step foot in the city, he was certain he still had a target on his back.
One he deserved.
He had earned their hatred, he hated himself.
Ashley stared at her reflection in the mirror, her belly had swelled some, she now had the tiniest little baby bump.
It had been weeks since she stormed out of Alex's dorm room, she knew they needed to talk but the idea of it scared her.
An abortion had always been out of the question but it was now no longer an option, she had discussed adoption with her parents and they agreed it was the best outcome for all involved and it was the best for the baby.
She already loved the tiny life growing inside of her, but she knew the greatest gift she could give that life was a family that was capable of caring for it. Her and Alex weren't ready to be parents, this was the best option for all parties.
She knew it in her head, and in her heart but it still hurt like hell. The idea of giving her child away was terrifying, but she knew she couldn't be a parent.
Her baby deserved more than she could provide for it.
She had already met with an agency and was trying to decide between an open adoption versus a closed one. She loved the idea of having an idea of what was going on in her child's life but she wasn't sure she could handle knowing those things.
The woman had told her to think about and to speak with the baby's father.
Except she couldn't get a hold of him, she had heard he'd broken his hand and had surgery and that was about it.
She hated that he seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth, the last person she wanted to contact was his mother, so she decided she'd check in with Kim and Adam. She'd spent a few nights at their house and really liked them, she especially liked their son.
She wore a baggy sweatshirt in hopes of hiding the baby bump, she wasn't sure if other people would notice it or not, she just wasn't ready for the world to know yet.
"Have you spoken to your brother?" Kim asked as she finished the laundry, Nick was at school and Adam had the day off and had just returned from the gym.
"No..haven't seen him in awhile" Adam pulled the sweat soaked shirt off and tossed it in the laundry room, it landed at Kim's feet.
"Really?" She huffed as she picked it up, "This is nasty.." She tossed it in the machine, "is Alex okay?"
Adam shrugged, "I think so..but he's icing me out"
"Ashley called"
Adam has started down the hallway and stopped and turned back to her, "What did she want?"
Kim joined him in the hallway, "She said she needed to talk to us..she's coming over in a little while"
Adam nodded, "Alright, well maybe she can clue us in to what's going on with Alex" he wasn't going to reach out to their mother, he figured Alex would eventually get back to him. He knew the kid was devastated over missing the rest of the baseball season and he didn't want to add to it.
Her heart was breaking for him, he was obviously in the midst of a serious depression. She knew he was up most of the night and had probably only just recently fallen asleep. His usually clean shaven face was now covered in a beard that was unkept and his hair was greasy and much longer than he normally wore it.
She was worried about him, she gathered his laundry and found the bottles shoved under the bed, six empty beer bottles and end empty bottle of Percocet mixed in.
"Damn it" She whispered softly, he was going off the rails and she didn't know how to help him.
Ashley rang the bell and clutched her purse in front of her, her stomach still queasy. This pregnancy was seriously kicking her ass, she could barely keep anything down and if she wasn't puking she was eating everything in sight. She had a serious addiction to sunflower seeds, she couldn't get enough of them.
Kim smiled warmly as she opened the door, "Hey Ash! Come on in" she hugged her, Kim really liked her and hoped she and Alex could work through whatever it was they were dealing with.
"Hey Kim" she smiled awkwardly, "is Adam home?"
Kim nodded, "He's in the shower....can I get you anything? Coffee?" She went into the kitchen, Ashley following her and sitting at the table.
"No thanks, I'm okay"she declined. She picked up the picture of Nicky and Alex up off the table, "how's Nick?"
Kim smiled, "He's good, finally got cleared to go back to baseball. He really wants Alex to come to his next game..but we can't seem to get a hold of him"
Ashley groaned inwardly, she was hoping to avoid the topic of Alex until Adam had joined them. It was going to be hard enough to talk about it, she didn't want to have to explain it twice.
Adam finally joined them in the kitchen, his hair still wet. Ashley smiled as Adam gave Kim a quick kiss on the mouth before greeting her, "Ashley...hey" he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her on the top of her head, "how's my little brother...he hasn't shown his face her in weeks"
She knew she had to just jump right in, that the longer she waited the harder it would be.
Ashley cleared her throat, "I came to you guys because I haven't seen Alex since the night he and I had that fight, the night he broke his hand"
Adam hopped up on the counter, "That's the last I've seen of him...you know he needed surgery, right?" He grabbed an apple from the basket of fruit.
Ashley felt her stomach flip as Adam bit into the apple, "I had heard that, but he won't answer my calls or text messages. I don't think he's staying at the dorms or going to classes"
"Shit.." Adam jumped down from the counter, and quickly typed out a text message to his brother begging him to get back to him.
Ashley nervously bit the inside of her cheek, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Kim, "Adam...did he tell you? Did he tell you what our fight was about?"
Adam shook his head no.
"I'm pregnant" Ashley spit out, her hand laying over her stomach, "Alex is the father...he said he'd borrow money from you for me to have an abortion" her eyes beginning to water.
"Like hell he is!" Kim quickly answered, her heart firmly in her throat.
Ashley picked up on her anger, "I don't want an abortion, even if I did it's too late now" she wiped at her eyes, "I'm giving the baby up"
Kim quickly looked at Adam and then back at Ashley.
The look exchanged between Adam and Kim unnerved Ashley, "What?"
"We will take it Ashley, let Adam and I adopt your baby" Kim answered a little too quickly for Adam's liking.
"Woah...Darlin', slow down here" he attempted to put the brakes on the conversation, his head was still spinning from Ashley's news about his brother. The only thing that he could think about was making sure Alex was okay.
"Adam! It makes perfect sense, do you really want Alex's baby with strangers? We could take care of it, and Ashley and Alex could be in its life still, it's a win win for everyone" her heart raced with excitement.
This was all moving way too fast for Ashley, she didn't understand why they would her baby, "Kim..I don't know, don't you want your own?"
Adam looked at his feet, he knew where this was headed.
"I can't, when Nicholas was born I ended up with an emergency hysterectomy, I nearly died" Kim spoke softly, "I know this is a lot to ask, but Ashley...we can help you...Adam and I could raise your baby.."
"Kim I can't..." Ashley interjected, "this is all too much..I just came here to see if you had heard from Alex.." She stood to leave, "I'm sorry"
Adam followed her to the door, "Ash...I'm sorry. It's just Kim...she wants another baby, she just got a little excited."
Ashley nodded, "If you hear from Alex will you call me? Tell him I need to talk to him"
"Of course" Adam rubbed her arm, "I hope Kim didn't upset you too much"
He watched as the world zoomed by, he was going back to Chicago and he was scared shitless, he had no other choice though.
He had nowhere else to go, and no one else to take him in.
His sister was his only friend.
He could see the glint in her eyes, she was already making plans.
"Don't Kim..please don't" Adam begged her sitting in the chair opposite her, "Ashley hasn't even said she'd consider us"
"She will Adam, it makes perfect sense, her baby would be with family, who could love that baby more than us?" Kim moved to sit in his lap, "This is going to be perfect, Adam. I haven't been this excited in years"
He couldn't help but smile, she was thrilled, "Baby, please don't get your hopes up. Alex and Ashley have a lot to talk about, a lot of decisions to make. I don't want to see your heart broken" he kissed the tip of her nose, "please Kim?"
"Adam, this is gonna happen. I just know it! We're gonna have a baby...Nicholas is gonna lose his mind" she leaned down and captured his lips, she pulled back from him, "I think we should celebrate"
He wanted to put the brakes on it, to slow everything down but her excitement was contagious and the thought of another child was exciting. He was quickly swept up in her excitement and lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom.
Megan rubbed her hands together hoping to warm them, she'd been waiting for close to forty five minutes and she was anxious to see her 'baby brother' it had been years. He'd made mistakes, that was putting it mildly but he'd paid for those mistakes and she hoped he'd be able to move on.
Finally he rounded the corner and bounced down the steps on his toes, he looked good. He'd lost weight but overall he looked good.
She ran to meet him, "Sean!" She called out as she jumped in his arms, "I've missed you...I'm so glad you decided to come home"
He was near tears, "Thanks Megan...I'm pretty sure you're the only one who will be happy to see me" he laughed nervously, "where are the kids?"
"Connor and Cade are at school and Maisie is with a sitter, they're gonna be so excited to finally meet their Uncle Sean" she kissed his cheek.
He nodded, he really had lost his way. His nephews were 14 and 10 and he had never met them,his niece was three the very definition of a surprise.
"I hope so" he couldn't help but scan the crowd, he hated being in large open areas, he had his ass kicked daily for years, either by other prisoners or by the police officers. Either way he was screwed, the prisoners hated him because he was once a cop and the guards hated him for what he had done to Kim.
Truth was no one hated him more than he hated himself.