Third Watch Twelve Days of Christmas Fic #2: Matthew 7:7 (1/1)
Title: The Twelve Days of Christmas series(2003): Fic # 2: Matthew 7:7
Authors: NYPDBosco and X_tremeroswellian
Emails: mauriceboscorelli@yahoo.com & faithboscorelli1@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Not ours.
Rating: PG
Hmm…up to about third season.
Summary: Bosco and Faith bond on Christmas Eve after getting called to a case involving an abandoned infant.
Ask, and it shall be given you
Seek, and ye shall find
Knock, and it shall be opened unto you
-Matthew 7:7
Matthew 7:7
She glanced around the street nervously before climbing out of her small, beat-up gremlin. She reached into the backseat and carefully removed the small infant carrier where the little boy lay sleeping peacefully. She gazed down at him for a long moment, her heart pounding heavily in her chest. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "But you deserve more than this. I love you." She placed a soft kiss against his forehead, and he stirred but didn't awaken.
Tears prickling her eyes, she sniffled and crossed the street, walking up the steps of the building, shivering in the cold winter air. She bit her lip and pulled the door of the church open, pausing just inside the entrance and drawing in a shaky breath. She didn't see anyone around. A little surprising since it was Christmas Eve. People would show up soon enough. She gazed down at the little boy. She knew in her heart this was what was best for him. "Goodbye," she whispered, carefully setting the carrier down and pressing a hand to her mouth as she quickly exited the church. It was for the best, but it didn't make her heart any less heavy.
Rebecca tucked a strand of her wavy red hair behind her ear and crossed the road to her car once more, not bothering to brush away the tears that streamed down her face. She prayed that her baby would find parents that would be able to take care of him the way he deserved. The way she couldn't.
She crawled into the driver's seat of her car and looked in the rearview mirror, wincing at the large bruise on her cheek and reminding herself why this was better for her son. She wouldn't allow him to be brutalized by his father the way that she was, even though she'd left him months ago. Her son would have a better life than she could ever hope to give him.
Because it was Christmas time. The season for miracles.
* * *
Bosco pulled the RMP to a stop in front of the church, and put the car in park. "So, this is the place," he said as he looked out the window.
"1225 East Bethlehem," she murmured, gazing up at the building.
He sighed, and opened his car door.
Faith did the same, climbing out of the squad slowly, squinting against the lightly falling snow. She glanced back at Bosco briefly before crossing the street and quickly walking up the steps.
"Of all nights to get one of these calls."
"Yeah," she agreed softly, grabbing the door handle and holding it open for him.
He nodded his thanks, and stepped inside, removing his hat.
She pulled her hat off as well, stuffing it into her jacket pocket and stepping inside the church, glancing around. There were very few people in the pews, and the ones that were there were scattered about, each appearing to be there alone. She drew in a breath as she heard a small cry from the alter. The priest was leaning over the infant carrier, apparently trying to calm the child.
Bosco ran a hand over his face. "Let's do this," he whispered.
Faith reached out and patted his arm gently before moving forward. "Excuse me, Father," she said softly.
He looked up, and smiled sadly. "Hello officers."
She glanced down at the baby, who was still fussing. "How long ago did you call?"
"An hour...maybe longer." He glanced down at the baby, then back up at Faith. "I've never really handled a baby before."
She nodded slightly and glanced at Bosco. "You wanna take his statement or take care of the baby?" she asked, more out of consideration than anything else. She knew what his answer would be.
"I'll uh...I'll take the statement," he told her as he looked down at the baby.
Faith offered him a small smile before lifting the tiny child out of the carrier. "Hi, there," she whispered, kissing his forehead lightly before cradling him in her arms. He calmed down almost immediately.
The corner of Bosco's mouth turned up into a grin as he watched his partner for a moment. He then turned his attention back to the priest. "So, did you find the baby?"
Her attention drifted away from Bosco's questioning as she cuddled the infant. She rubbed his back gently, placing another soft kiss against his head. Her gaze fell on the carrier where there was an envelope in the seat.
Bosco began to take notes as he got the story from the priest. He glanced at Faith, his eyes narrowing slightly as he watched her reach into the baby carrier.
"Boz. There's a note."
"Yeah?" He closed his notepad, and moved over to stand beside her.
She carefully balanced the child in one arm as she opened the envelope and pulled the letter out.
Please make sure my baby finds a good home. His name is Matthew.
Bosco stared at the note. "That's it?"
"Looks like." She flipped it over to look at the back, but there was nothing else.
He sighed, and his shoulders slumped. "So I guess we call Children's Services."
She nodded slightly. "I'll do it," she said softly.
"You want me to uh...take Matthew?"
"No, it's okay, Boz. I've got him." She offered him a small, sad smile before heading toward the back of the church.
Bosco nodded his head, watching her walk away. He turned back to the priest. "So you have no idea who left the baby here? Was there anyone here who may have seen someone?"
"No, there was no one here when I came out."
"Have you ever seen the baby before? Maybe at one of your services or functions."
Father Mannigan shook his head sadly, his face weary. "No, no...I don't recognize the child."
"You don't happen to have any security cameras set up at your entrance do you," he asked hopefully.
"No, we haven't been able to afford that kind of security."
He nodded his head, and pulled out his card. "If you hear anything give me a call," he said softly, handing him his card before picking up the baby carrier and diaper bag that was on the floor.
"I will. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help. Will the child be okay?"
Bosco looked toward the back of the church, and then back at the man. "I hope so."
* * *
Bosco sat across the table from Faith watching her interact with the baby who was in his carrier on the tabletop. He leaned forward a little as he watched them, his mind full of questions.
Her gaze was locked on the tiny infant, who was smiling at her as he gripped her finger in his small hand. "You're a sweet little boy," she murmured, unable to keep from smiling back at him.
"Why would anybody do this," he asked in a barely audible whisper.
She fell silent, her eyes still focused on the child.
"Look at him," he continued in a whisper. "He's beautiful and he seems to be perfectly healthy, and well taken care of."
"I don't know, Boz." Her voice was soft, and she kissed the baby's fingers lightly. "There could be a lot of reasons."
He nodded his head, and slowly reached out to touch Matthew's leg.
Matthew's gaze shifted to Bosco and he smiled at the other officer.
A grin tugged at his lips as he lifted his hand, rubbing the child's cheek.
Faith's gaze shifted over to her partner, and a soft, sad smile touched her lips. "You're good with kids."
He looked at her. "You think so?"
"Yeah. Emily and Charlie have always loved spendin' time with ya and...well, I mean, look at Matthew. You're gonna make a great father someday, Boz."
"Thanks," he whispered softly. He glanced back at Matthew, and then at Faith. "Maybe one of us should hold him," he suggested out of the blue.
She nodded. "You wanna hold him?"
"Well...only if you don't want to," he told her, trying to put on his macho act.
"That's all right. I need to use the little girl's room anyway." She suppressed a smile.
"Okay, well...hurry back." He stood up so he could take Matthew out of the carrier.
She shook her head slightly and headed for the women's restroom.
"Come here, Champ," he said softly as he picked up the baby, and cradled him in his arms before sitting back down.
Faith returned a few moments later, but stopped a few feet away, gazing at Bosco and Matthew. She smiled faintly at the sight. Her usually macho partner was completely enchanted by the small child. She wished she had a camera.
He spoke softly to the baby as he held him. "They're gonna find you a good home. With good people."
As she approached the table silently, she heard his soft promise to the baby and she had to blink back tears.
"It'll be okay." He gently touched the baby's forehead.
When she sat down at the table again, she sat beside Bosco, gazing at him wordlessly.
"We gotta make sure they put him in a good home," he whispered, knowing Faith was there, but not looking at her.
"We will." Her voice was soft and she touched his arm lightly as she gazed at Matthew, who smiled at her.
"I bet there's a lot of families who'd love to have a little boy like him."
Faith nodded silently, glancing up when she heard the bell on the door jingle. A woman in a nice black suede skirt and a green blouse walked over to them.
"Officers Boscorelli and Yokas?"
"That's us," Bosco replied as he looked up at the woman.
"I'm Michelle Greene from Children Services." Her voice was soft, friendly as she smiled at them. She pulled out her identification badge.
"I'm Bosco." He nodded his head toward his partner. "That's Faith, and this..." He shifted the baby in his arms. "This is Matthew."
Michelle smiled at the baby. "I just have a few questions and then I'll take him off your hands."
"Well, there's not a whole lot to tell."
"I assume we have no idea who the biological parents are?"
Bosco nodded his head. "Yeah, the note didn't give any information except that his name's Matthew."
"And no one saw who left the child in St. Michael's Church?"
"No," he said sadly. "Nobody saw anything, and they don't have any security cameras."
Michelle sighed softly. "All right. Do you have a card in case I have anymore questions?"
He shifted so he could pull a card out of his pocket. Reaching across the table he handed it to her.
"Thanks." She slid it into her jacket pocket. "Well, are you ready to go, Matthew?"
"He's been pretty good so far. Only fussed a couple times." He looked down at the baby. "He likes to be held."
"We'll take good care of him."
"What um...what exactly happens now?" Faith's voice was soft.
"Well, tonight he'll spend the night either at the hospital or with one of the agency workers. Tomorrow we'll start looking for a suitable foster home until we can either locate the biological parents to see if they both agreed to give the child up, and if that doesn't work out, we'll start looking for people who want to adopt him."
"We'd like to be updated on his uh...status," Bosco told her.
Michelle smiled softly. "Not a problem. I've got your card."
Bosco nodded his head, and reluctantly stood up to put Matthew back in the carried. He took his time strapping him in, wishing he didn't have to let the baby out of his sight. Wanting to protect him, and make sure that everything went well.
Faith stood up as well, closing her eyes as she kissed Matthew's forehead softly, touched his cheek with her finger. "Good luck, little one," she whispered.
He let out a breath as he watched Michelle pick up the carrier. "See ya, Champ."
They watched as the woman headed for the exit of the small diner. She rubbed the back of her neck briefly.
Bosco sighed heavily, and sat back down.
Faith gave his shoulder a light squeeze, but remained quiet, glancing up again as Sully and Davis stepped inside, followed by Jimmy Doherty, Kim Zambrano, Doc Parker, Carlos Nieto and Alex Taylor.
"So, what's goin' on," Sully asked as he approached their table, noticing the sad expressions on their faces.
Kim took a seat in the nearest chair, glancing over at Bosco and Faith.
"We got a call. Somebody dumped their baby boy off at St. Michael's," Bosco informed them. "Children Services just took him."
Alex hooked her thumb over her shoulder. "Was that the baby?"
Faith nodded silently.
"And merry Christmas," Davis muttered.
"Cute baby," Alex said softly.
"Was there something wrong with him," Carlos asked curiously. "Was that why they gave him up?"
"We're not sure. He seemed to be pretty healthy," Faith said softly.
Jimmy shook his head. "I never did understand how anyone could give up their kid. They've got a responsibility. Nothin' like dumpin' them on somebody else. Just goes to show they've got no concern for others."
Carlos's head shot up. "You think that's all there is to it?! You think people just decide in a split second that they don't want their child, and then they just dump 'em off somewhere?!"
"Easy, Carlos. Jimmy didn't mean--" Kim tried to intervene.
"That's a very easy statement to make when you've never been in someone else's shoes," Faith said quietly, gazing at the firefighter across the table.
"Yeah Doherty! You've got -no- idea how hard it is to make that decision." Carlos gave him a disgusted look. "Whichever decision you make you're always gonna wonder if it was the right one. But I knew I couldn't provide for my daughter. If I wanted her to have a good life I had to find her a good family," he stated, his voice raised slightly, still feeling like he'd been personally attacked.
"Okay, I don't think he meant you, Carlos," Doc said, glancing at him.
"Yeah, well..." The paramedic let his voice trail off.
Sully crossed his arms over his chest. "So this kid--"
"Matthew," Bosco interrupted.
He glanced at Bosco. "Right, Matthew. He's gonna end up in the system? They'd got no clue about any family that's out there?"
Faith reluctantly shifted her gaze away from Jimmy and looked at Sully. "No, we have no idea who his biological family is. The woman said he'd end up in foster care until they could either locate his parents or find a family who wanted to adopt him."
"Hopefully they find him a family fast," Carlos whispered.
Bosco nodded his head. "Yeah, that'd be nice. I mean, you'd think with him being just a baby he'd have a better chance of bein' adopted...right?"
"Hopefully," Kim murmured. "I can't imagine having to make that choice...giving up your child." She shook her head.
"I can't imagine just dropping your baby off at a random public place," Davis said. "I mean, it's one thing to give your kid up for adoption through an agency, but to just leave him someplace? That's not right."
"We don't know what the situation is," Faith said, looking down at the table.
"Whoever left him had taken good care of him. I'm guessing that they really cared about him," Bosco said softly. He took a deep breath, and then stood up, leaving the table without another word.
She glanced up and watched with sad eyes as he headed toward the men's restroom.
"He alright," Jimmy asked as he watched Bosco walk away.
"Yeah, he's all right," she murmured, knowing Bosco wouldn't want her or anyone else to make a big deal out of his actions.
Bosco went into the restroom, and stood in front of the mirror staring at his reflection for a moment. He turned on the faucet, and splashed cold water on his face trying to snap himself out of the funk he was in. Ever since they'd gotten the call there had been a sadness tugging at his heart, and it'd only gotten worse after they'd had to hand Matthew over to Children Services.
Faith sighed softly and leaned back in her chair, staring out the window at the lightly falling snow, visible only because of the streetlights. "Silent Night" played softly on the diner's radio and as she listened to the words, she suddenly felt very tired and wished the shift was over.
"I guess I still don't get it." Davis's voice was quiet.
"What's there to get, Davis," Sully asked.
"Why not just go directly to Children's Services? Or a police station? Anybody could have kidnapped him out of the church if no one was around when they left him."
"Maybe it wasn't a mutual agreement between the parents," Alex offered up.
"Well that's even worse. I mean, if one of the parents wanted the kid..." Davis shook his head.
Sully sighed. "There's a million possibilities."
Kim rested her hands on the table. "I guess I can see Davis's point though." She glanced at Jimmy.
"Is that a shot at me," Doherty asked with a raised eyebrow.
Her eyebrows furrowed. "How is that a shot at you?"
"Just figured you were tryin' to take a shot at me cause of not bein' in Joey's life as much as I should have been for a while there."
"Well, you figured wrong."
"So maybe she was a single mother," Carlos suggested.
"Or young," Sully added. "Coulda been two young kids havin' a baby before they were ready."
Faith rose to her feet and left the table, wandering back to the men's bathroom. She glanced around, then knocked softly.
Bosco broke out of his trance. "Uh...just a minute."
"It's just me," she said softly.
"Oh," he whispered as he moved over to the door, and pulled it open.
She gazed at him. "You okay?"
He nodded his head quickly. "Yeah. You?"
"Yeah. But I'm not really hungry and...I'm tired of sittin' out there. You wanna go?"
Bosco nodded his head, and stepped out of the restroom. "Let's go."
Faith headed back to the table, stopping long enough to slip her coat on again. "See you guys later. Merry Christmas."
"Leavin' so soon," Sully asked as Bosco also came back to the table, grabbing his jacket.
"Yeah, well...we ate earlier," she lied easily, offering him a small smile.
"Oh okay, well, we'll see you later." Sully gave them a small wave.
"Later," Bosco mumbled as he pulled on his stocking cap, and headed for the door.
"Merry Christmas," Kim said, watching as they left the restaurant.
Faith reached out and touched his hand briefly as they headed for their RMP in silence.
He turned to look at her. "Tonight sucks."
She looked back at him sadly. "Let's lay low for the rest of the shift," she said softly.
"No argument here," he responded as he slid into the driver's seat.
* * *
Faith finished changing into her civvies, staring at the picture of Emily and Charlie taped to the inside of her locker as the officers around chatted cheerfully, wishing one another happy holidays. She was oblivious to all of it, lost in thought.
Bosco sat in front of his locker, and slowly pulled on his hooded sweatshirt. He'd been dragging for the last few hours, totally drained of physical energy even though he hadn't done anything exerting. Sighing he closed his locker, and snapped the lock shut. "You want a ride," he asked softly as he lifted his head to look at Faith.
She blinked a couple of times and glanced over at him. It took a moment for his words to register, even though it was the same question he asked her night after night. She always said no, generally preferring to walk and clear her head before she got home to her family. She surprised them both with an instant, "Yeah. Thanks."
He stared at her for a moment then nodded his head. "You ready?"
Faith gazed back at him. "Yeah. I'm ready."
Standing up he grabbed his jacket off the bench, and made his way toward the door.
She followed him silently.
He shivered when they got outside, and he pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up to cover his head as he walked toward the car.
She drew in a breath of the cold air, wrapped her arms around herself and waited at the passenger side for him to climb in the car and unlock the door.
Once they were both inside the mustang he started the car, and turned on the heat before sitting back, allowing the car to warm up. "I'm exhausted."
"Yeah, me too," she murmured, gazing out the windshield.
He was silent for a moment. "You think he's okay," he asked in a whisper.
It took her a few seconds. "Yeah. I think so." I hope so, she thought.
Bosco nodded, and then rolled his head to the side to look at her. "It was personal for me."
She shifted her gaze to look at him, remaining silent.
He let out a breath. "As soon as I saw him, and heard him fussin'. It just...it really hit me. I mean, he's just a baby and he's got nobody."
She was more than a little disturbed by his words. "They'll find him a good family."
"But what if they don't? What if...what if they put him in some foster home, and he ends up with lousy parents? It's not fair."
Faith looked away, out the window. "And maybe he'll be a lot better off than wherever he was," she said softly, her voice barely audible.
"Maybe there's someone out there who needs him just as much as he needs them, ya know?"
She nodded silently, closing her eyes and exhaling slowly.
"If I wasn't single..." He let his voice trail off.
"He'd be lucky to have you."
He looked up at the ceiling of the car, and then closed his eyes. "Can I ask you somethin'?"
"Yeah. Sure." Her voice was soft.
"Do you think they dropped him off at a church for a reason? Like maybe they thought...God would help him or something? Or was it just convenient?"
She was silent for a moment. "I'd like to think they had a reason. That they believed he'd be safe in a church. That good people would find him," she said softly.
Bosco straightened up in the seat, and put the car in gear. "You ready to go home?"
"Yeah." She nodded slightly and turned to gaze out the passenger side window again.
He checked his mirrors, and pulled out into the street, heading for her apartment.
The ride to her place was relatively silent, neither of them speaking to the other, lost in their own thoughts. She made no move to get out of his car when he stopped in front of her building, though her eyes drifted up to the third floor. The apartment was dark, Fred had apparently already gone to bed, too tired to wait up for her after her long shift.
He left the car running not sure how long they were going to sit there, and wanting to keep the heat on. Bosco glanced at the clock on his radio. "It's Christmas," he whispered.
"Yeah," she whispered back.
"I can't seem to let this go," he told her softly.
She nodded imperceptibly though she didn't look at him.
"You got big plans for today?"
She shrugged slightly. "Not really. We're just stayin' here, opening gifts and I'm fixin' dinner later." She paused. "What about you?"
"I'm goin' to Ma's for dinner, and that's pretty much it."
"Why don't you come over when you're done at your mom's?"
He turned to look at her. "You sure?"
Faith shifted her gaze to him. "Yeah. Of course."
Bosco gave her a small smile. "Thanks."
She smiled back at him, her eyes soft. "You're welcome. You can help me fix the green bean casserole." Her voice was a little lighter than it had been all night.
"Oh that sounds like fun," he chuckled softly.
She winked at him. "I won't even throw any food at ya."
"And if you do I ain't cleanin' it up."
"Nah, we'll make Fred clean it up."
He nodded his head, and grew quiet once more.
She reached out and touched his arm. "You gonna be okay, Bosco?"
"Yeah," he whispered. "I'll manage."
Faith studied him for a moment in silence. "Why don't you spend the night?"
"That's okay. I don't wanna get in the way."
"No, really. Spend the night, eat breakfast with us, open packages in the morning. I forgot to bring your gifts to work today, anyway. Besides, the kids would love to wake up and find their 'Uncle B' there on Christmas morning."
"That does sound pretty tempting," he whispered.
She smiled warmly and held out her hand. "I'd like it if you stayed, too."
He took hold of her hand. "I have a request...if it's not too much trouble."
"What's the request?" she asked curiously.
"I've uh...I've been thinkin' that I'd like to...go to church in the morning," he said softly.
Faith gazed at him. "I think that's a really good idea."
"Will you go with me?"
Her eyes softened. "Sure, if you want me to."
He nodded his head. "I'm not a big church goer, but after this shift..."
"I know." She squeezed his hand lightly. After a second, she leaned across the seat and kissed his cheek gently. "You're a good man, Bosco."
Bosco gazed at her. "You're a good friend. I'm glad I have you."
"That goes both ways."
He smiled at her, and then shut the car off. "How 'bout we go get some sleep?"
"Yeah, or Santa might not leave us any presents."
"He'll leave us presents cause we've both been good," he told her with a grin.
"Well, -I've- been good," she said with a light chuckle. "You on the other hand..."
"Funny Yokas."
Faith winked at him as she climbed out of the car, waiting for him before they headed up toward her building.
Bosco leaned against the wall as he watched Faith unlock her apartment. Just as she was getting ready to push the door open he reached out and stopped her. "You sure it's okay if I stay tonight?"
She nodded. "Yeah, it's fine, Boz."
"Just checkin'," he told her with a small grin.
She smiled softly, then turned the door handle, opening the door. She stepped inside and set her purse on the table by the door before shrugging out of her jacket. The apartment was silent except for Fred's snoring from down the hall. She grimaced. No wonder I don't sleep half the time, she thought.
"Sounds like somebody's asleep," Bosco chuckled.
"Yeah, I swear one of these days the neighbors are gonna complain."
Bosco took his jacket off, and hung it up by the door. "Your tree looks great," he observed as he moved into the living room where the tree was still lit.
"Thanks. It took about five hours to get it up and decorate it."
"Well all the work definitely paid off." He looked under the tree. "Doesn't look like Santa's been here yet."
"No, Santa hasn't finished wrapping gifts. Mrs. Claus gets to do it."
"Oh." He nodded his head. "Does Mrs. Claus need some help?"
A faint smile touched her lips. "If you want to."
"I can't guarantee they'll be the best wrapping jobs, but..."
"That's all right. That's what happens when Santa leaves the wrapping for his wife who worked a nine hour shift."
"Somebody needs to put Santa on the naughty list."
Faith grinned. "Well, I'm sure we could find some coal for his stocking."
"If you wanna get the gifts and stuff I could make hot chocolate or somethin'," he offered.
She nodded. "That'd be good. Thanks, Bosco." She smiled, then turned and headed for her bedroom.
He found the canister he was looking for in the cupboard next to the refrigerator, and then pulled down two mugs. A couple minutes later the microwave dinged, and he took the hot chocolates out, setting them on the counter. As he put away the mix he found an open bag of marshmallows, and decided to dump a few in each of their mugs before heading into the living room.
Faith returned a moment later, dressed in warm flannel pajamas, her hair tied back in a ponytail as she carried a basket full of boxes, presents and wrapping paper. She set the items down on the living room floor, scooting the coffee table back away from the couch to make room for them to sit on the floor and use the table for wrapping.
"Kids get anything good this year," he asked with raised eyebrows as he looked toward the basket.
"Three new Playstation games for Charlie, a computer program Em wanted, plus a lot of CDs and Harry Potter merchandise."
"Sounds like they made out pretty good." He reached for one of the Playstation games, and a roll of wrapping paper.
"Yeah, well...the extra overtime hours came in handy."
"I bet," he whispered, reaching for the scissors. "Kids are expensive these days."
Faith fell silent at his words as her mind drifted to Matthew and she wondered who'd ended up taking him in for the night. Hopefully somewhere people would take good care of him.
"When you and Fred were startin' out...when you first had Em, did you ever think about...well did you ever think you couldn't do it? That it was too hard?"
She was quiet for a moment. "Yeah, of course. I mean, we were really young. I was eighteen. Fred was barely nineteen. We had a lot of problems between us. He floated from job to job from nearly two years and...I was never sure we were gonna have enough money to eat, let alone pay bills. It was scary as hell."
"Did you ever think about giving her up," he asked in a whisper as he stared at the table.
She wasn't quite sure how to answer him. "Honestly?"
Bosco turned to look at her, and nodded his head.
Faith lifted her gaze to his face. "Yeah, when I first found out I was pregnant. My dad told me either give the baby up or get married."
"So you got married," he said softly.
"Yeah," she said just as softly, nodding.
"And when you guys were struggling did you ever think about..."
"Dropping her off at a church?"
"Yeah, somethin' like that."
She gazed at him. "No. I needed her too much, pathetic as that might sound."
He smiled softly. "That's not pathetic."
A faint smile touched her lips. "Emily was...she was my lifeline, you know? No matter how bad things got with money, or with me and Fred, all it took was one smile from her and...I knew everything would turn out okay."
Bosco went back to wrapping Charlie's gift. "I'm glad it did."
"Yeah. Yeah, me too." She finished wrapping the last CD in the basket and marked the tag with her daughter's name.
He set Charlie's gift aside, and reached for another one. "I know they're still pretty young, but I hope your kids realize how good they've got it. Realize how much you and Fred love them, and the things you do for them."
"I just want them to be happy." Her voice was soft.
"They're loved. They've got food, clothes and shelter." He then pointed at the gifts. "Somewhere in all this I'm willing to bet there's some happiness."
Faith was quiet for a moment, finding his words comforting. "What about you?" she asked very softly.
His eyes narrowed in confusion. "What about me?"
"Are you happy, Boz?"
He shrugged. "Sometimes."
"Just sometimes?"
"In case you haven't noticed...there's a lot missin' in my life." He started wrapping the next gift.
She set down the package she was holding and put a hand on his shoulder, not sure of what to say, but wanting to comfort him.
He managed half a smile as he turned to look at her. "But I'm spendin' Christmas with my partner, so right now things are pretty damn good."
She squeezed his shoulder lightly. "Well, I don't know if it helps any, but...I'm really glad you're here. Now I'm with my -whole- family."
"Thanks for askin' me, Faith."
"You're welcome." She smiled at him, then let her hand drop from his arm as she set to work wrapping the final gift in the basket.
Bosco stood up, serious conversation over, and began to place the gifts under the tree.
Faith stood up as well, resting her hands on her hips as she yawned. "I don't know about you, but I'm beat."
"Don't do that," he said as he yawned.
She gave him a wry smile. "Sorry."
He put the last gift under the tree, and dragged his hand down his face. "I think it's definitely time to get some sleep."
She nodded and walked over to the closet. "You wanna pull out the sofa bed or sleep on it as is?"
"It's fine as it is. Less clean up in the morning."
"Well, don't worry about that. Do whatever's gonna be most comfy."
"Most comfy," he asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.
"Comfy...short for comfortable," she said, smirking back.
He rolled his eyes.
Faith chuckled softly as she pulled three extra blankets out of the closet, as well as a couple of pillows.
Bosco took one of the blankets from her when she came back over to him, and he spread it out on the sofa. "So it'd probably be inappropriate for me to sleep in the buff tonight, huh?"
She smacked him lightly in the arm. "Maybe if the kids weren't here." She couldn't resist teasing him.
He chuckled as he sat down, and pulled off his sweatshirt. "You know you'd love to see me naked."
"Never said I wouldn't," she replied with another smirk as she sank down in the chair by the sofa.
With a grin he began to take off his shoes. "So how long you figure it'll be before Charlie comes tearin' in here in the morning?"
"Hmm...well...it's nearly two now, so...probably about four or five hours."
"That gives me plenty of time then." He took off his belt, but left his jeans on.
She smiled faintly, her gaze drifting to the Christmas tree. "You want me to leave the tree plugged in, or should I unplug it?" She kept her voice casual, though they both know why she asked the question. She was asking, but she wasn't going to make a big deal out of it either way.
Bosco laid down. "You can keep it plugged in."
"All right." She slowly stood up, then reached out and picked up the blankets, covering him up with them without thinking about it.
He smiled softly. "Thanks."
She smiled back. "Sure." She leaned down and kissed his forehead lightly. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Faith," he whispered as he closed his eyes.
Faith gazed down at him for a long moment, her eyes full of warmth. Then she stretched her arms over her head and walked down the hallway toward her bedroom, groaning softly when she heard Fred's snoring get louder the closer she got. She made a face, then turned and headed across the hallway, checking in on the kids. She hesitated a moment, then crossed the room to where her daughter lay sleeping and she leaned over, kissing her cheek lightly. She did the same to Charlie. Then she went to her bedroom, determined to get at least a couple of hours sleep before the sun rose.
* * *
Faith's eyebrows furrowed as sunlight crept across her face from the window. She could feel someone shaking her shoulder, and heard an annoyed voice saying her name. "Hmmm," she grumbled, not opening her eyes.
"Mom. Come on. It's morning," Charlie informed her as he continued to try and wake her.
She tried to pull the pillow over her head. "Five more minutes," she murmured.
"Mom, it's Christmas."
"Yeah, and Mrs. Claus worked late."
He huffed in frustration. "You can take a nap after we open presents."
"Fred...your son needs you," she grumbled, refusing to open her eyes.
Charlie hopped up on the bed. "If you don't hurry up I'm just gonna open presents without you."
"Oh, you think so?"
"I -know- so."
A smile crept onto her lips and she opened her eyes, reaching out and grabbing her son, tickling him in the ribs. "I don't think so."
He laughed as he tried to push her hands away. "Mom!"
She grinned a little wider. "You know how to make me stop." She pointed to her cheek with her index finger before tickling him again.
"Never," Charlie chuckled.
"So I guess you don't want the huge surprise that's out in the living room."
Charlie quickly kissed his mother's cheek. "Better?"
Faith smiled. "Much. Now go on out. We'll be there in a minute."
"I'm timing you," he informed her as he jumped off the bed, and headed down the hallway.
Bosco pulled the blankets up to his chin as he turned onto his side, sleeping peacefully.
He wandered out into the living room, stopping abruptly when he spotted Bosco sleeping on the couch. His eyes widened. "Uncle B!" he said excitedly, grinning from ear to ear.
Bosco's eyebrows furrowed, a groan escaping him as he pulled the covers over his head.
Charlie crawled up on the sofa beside Bosco, hugging him around the waist even though he was covered up by the blankets. "Merry Christmas!"
Bosco pulled the blanket off his head, and with his eyes barely open he looked at the young boy. "Merry Christmas, Chuck."
He grinned. "What are you doing here?"
"I was tryin' to sleep," he said lightly as he ruffled the boy's hair.
"It's time to open presents," Charlie informed him.
Bosco yawned. "What time is it?"
"Six fifteen."
"Geez. I feel like I just went to bed." He shifted a little and wrapped his arm around Charlie. "You wake your folks up yet?"
"Mom's awake. Dad's still snoring."
"What about your sister?"
"She's curling her hair." He rolled his eyes.
"Seriously?"
He nodded. "It takes her forever. I hid her curling iron one time and Dad yelled at me."
Bosco chuckled. "Tell you what...since it's probably gonna be a while before everybody gets out here why don't you go check out what's under the tree? I'm pretty sure there's something for you from me."
His eyes widened. "Really?"
He nodded his head. "Yeah, why don't you go find it," he suggested.
Charlie grinned broadly and all but leapt off the couch and dove under the tree.
* * *
"Come on, Fred. Wake up."
"It's early, Faith," he grumbled.
"Yeah, and it's also Christmas."
"Kids up?"
"Well, Charlie is. I haven't seen Emily yet."
He sighed heavily, rolling onto his back and staring at the ceiling. "I'm looking foward to the day when the kids sleep in on Christmas."
"You'll regret wishing that one of these days."
"Well...not today," he chuckled as he turned to look at her.
A small smile touched her lips. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, baby," he whispered, leaning over to kiss her.
She kissed him back lightly.
He smiled. "So, Santa got everything delivered right?"
"And wrapped," she said wryly as she pulled away, giving him a look.
"What? I thought you liked doing that stuff?"
She made a face. "Well, lucky for me I had help."
His eyebrows furrowed. "What?"
Faith paused. "From an elf." She smiled, winked at him and climbed out of bed as she went over to her closet.
"An elf?" He sat up, and grabbed his jeans off the floor. "Who was your elf?"
She drew in a breath, walked over and shut the bedroom door softly. "Don't get mad."
His eyes narrowed. "Faith."
"Look, Bosco spent the night on the sofa." She quickly held up a hand as she saw his mouth twist into a dark frown. "It was a really rough shift last night."
"So you brought him home?"
"Actually he brought me home." She headed back over to the closet.
Fred rolled his eyes then stood up, and pulled on his jeans. "So he brought you home, and then you invited him to spend the night?"
"Pretty much."
"And you don't want me to get mad?"
"No, I don't want you to get mad."
"He's gonna leave, right? Before we..."
"No, he's not," she said softly, her voice calm. "I asked him to stay, to spend the day."
"Why Faith?! This is our family time."
"And Bosco is part of my family." She didn't turn around to look at him as she pulled a warm red sweater out of her closet.
He sighed. "I guess...seeing as it's Christmas..."
"Thank you," she said softly, a small smile on her face.
Fred went over to his dresser, and pulled out a sweatshirt. "So...the shift was that bad, huh?"
Faith was quiet for a moment as she changed out of her pajamas. "Yeah," she whispered.
"What happened?"
She exhaled slowly. "We got called to St. Michael's Church...someone abandoned this little baby. He was only a few months old. His name's Matthew."
"Oh man," he whispered as he walked over to her. He kissed the back of her head. "That's terrible."
"Yeah, it was rough. He was a really sweet baby."
"So what's gonna happen to him?"
"We don't really know. The woman from Children's Services said he'd probably be in foster care until they could find a family who wanted to adopt him." Her voice was soft.
Fred wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry, honey."
She leaned back against him, closing her eyes. "Yeah. Me too. I hate calls like that."
"Hey," he whispered. "How 'bout we go out into the living room? Nothing like Christmas morning to cheer a person up, huh?"
She nodded. "Yeah." She turned around to face him. "Thanks for not bein' upset about Boz bein' here today."
He smiled softly. "I think I can handle Maurice Boscorelli for one day."
She kissed him lightly. "It means a lot to me."
"Consider it your Christmas gift," he chuckled.
Faith grinned. "I love you."
"Love you, too." He kissed her forehead.
She touched his face gently, then took his hand and headed for the door.
Fred gave her hand a squeeze as they walked down the hallway.
She smiled widely as they walked into the living room and she spotted Bosco and Charlie sitting on the sofa. There was shredded wrapping paper scattered around where they were sitting and her son was staring intently at the item in his hand.
Bosco looked up when he heard them come into the room. "I let him open the gift I got him. I hope that's okay."
She smiled softly at him. "It's fine, Bosco. Good morning."
"Mornin'." He smiled at her as well, and gave Fred a nod. "Hey Fred."
"Hey Bosco."
"Emily!" Faith glanced toward the hallway. "Come on!"
"Hold your horses I'm almost ready!"
She raised her eyebrows. "Yeah to be grounded if you don't change your tone of voice."
A few moments later Emily entered the living room. Hair done, makeup on, and dressed as if she was going out for the day.
Faith shook her head slightly and glanced over at Bosco, rolling her eyes.
He covered his mouth, as he chuckled.
"Okay, I'm..." Her eyes widened slightly. "Bosco?"
"Merry Christmas, Emily," he responded with a smile.
Charlie stood up on the sofa. "Look what Uncle B gave me! It's a baseball signed by Mike Piazza!"
"Let me see that, Chaz." Fred walked over to his son, a smile on his face at the boy's excitement.
He handed the baseball over to his dad, grinning broadly.
Faith smiled at her son, then at Bosco. She turned and headed into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"This is great," Fred informed him. "Did you thank Bosco for the gift?"
He nodded, and wrapped his arms around Bosco's neck again. "Thanks, Uncle B!"
Bosco smiled as he hugged Charlie. "You're welcome, buddy." He looked over at Emily. "I got you somethin' too, Em."
She smiled softly, and glanced at her dad as she made her way over to the tree to find her gift.
Faith watched as the coffee slowly trickled down into the pot and she yawned, closing her eyes briefly. Then she straightened up and headed over to the fridge, pulling out a can of cinnamon rolls from the bottom drawer.
Emily found her gift in an envelope. She glanced at Bosco before opening it, and pulling out a gift card.
"I know it's not real original or all that exciting." He shrugged. "I wasn't sure what to get so I figured you could pick whatever you wanted. Your mom said you like that store."
She nodded. "Yeah, I do. Thanks Bosco."
Charlie was still holding onto the baseball Bosco had given him, but he was hopping around the living room anxiously. "Mo-om! Come on!"
"Yeah, come on Faith," Bosco joined in.
Faith rolled her eyes as she moved to the entrance of the kitchen. "Go ahead and start. I'll be there in a minute."
"You know we can't start with out you," Fred told her.
She sighed. "I'm makin' cinnamon rolls and coffee."
Bosco stood up. "Here, I'll do that. You guys can get started opening gifts."
She shook her head. "No, it's just gonna take a minute."
"Don't be so stubborn. Just go sit on the sofa."
She raised her eyebrows at him. "Don't get lippy with me, Boz." Her voice was light.
He shook his head. "And don't make me embarrass you in front of your kids."
"Meaning what?"
"I don't think you wanna find out," he chuckled as he moved into the kitchen, and pulled down three coffee mugs.
Faith smiled at him. "Thanks, Boz."
He just looked at her, his eyes bright.
She met and held his gaze. "Merry Christmas," she said very softly, glad that he was there to spend the day with them.
"Merry Christmas, Faith," he whispered.
* * *
Bosco and Faith stood on the sidewalk outside of St. Michael's. It was snowing lightly, and there was a good crowd filing into the church for the early Mass. "Thanks for comin' with me."
She reached out and took his hand, a faint, sad smile on her face. "Glad to be here."
"It just seems like it's the right thing to do today."
"Yeah. It does." She nodded her agreement, and took a deep breath as she looked up at the church. It looked different in the daytime. A little less intimidating.
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze as they headed up the steps. Once inside they took a seat near the back.
She wasn't used to prolonged physical contact with Bosco by any stretch of the imagination. Even brief physical contact between them was usually rare. But under the circumstances, keeping hold of his hand felt right. Comforting. She glanced over at him a couple times during Father Mannigan's sermon.
It had been a very long time since he'd been to a church service, but today he just felt the need to be here. He couldn't quite explain it, but he knew that Faith understood. He was attentive during the sermon, but occasionally, when he felt Faith looking at him he'd give her hand a gentle squeeze. During a moment of silence, a time when the parishioners were to pray, he made sure to pray for Matthew, and then thanked God for giving him a partner like Faith. Someone he could let his guard down in front of.
When the service ended, they stood up slowly, but made no move toward the door. "How ya doin'?" she asked softly.
He nodded his head, letting out a breath. "I'm doin' alright," he told her, his voice just as soft. "You?"
"I'm okay, too. I'm glad we came."
"Me too." He smiled softly.
She started to lead him toward the door when she heard someone call their names. She turned to see Father Mannigan approaching them. She glanced at Bosco briefly, wondering what was going on.
Bosco shrugged. "Merry Christmas Father."
"Merry Christmas. I'm glad you made it."
"Well...after yesterday somethin' just kinda drew us here, ya know?"
Faith stood close to her partner, gazing at the priest silently.
"I have news."
His eyes widened slightly, and he looked at Faith quickly before returning his attention back to Father Mannigan. "What kinda news?"
"I was approached by a young couple this morning. They've been trying for several months now to have children, with no success." He paused. "They're interested in adopting."
"Really? You mean...Matthew?"
Father Mannigan smiled. "Yes. I told them about him and they're very excited."
"Wow," Faith said softly, more than a little amazed.
Bosco grinned. "That's great."
"I just thought you might like to know." The priest shook their hands before heading back up to the alter.
He stared after him for a moment, stunned by the news then turned his head to look at Faith.
She looked back at him, her blue eyes reflecting her own surprise. "That's...wow. Kinda weird, huh?"
He nodded his head. "What were the odds of that," he asked softly. "A couple at this church...lookin' for a baby."
Faith was silent for a moment. "Maybe there's a reason whoever left Matthew here chose this church. Maybe...I don't know, maybe she was...guided." Her voice was just barely a whisper.
"It's kinda like...a miracle."
A soft smile touched her lips. "Yeah. Kinda like that."
"Everything's gonna be okay now," he said softly.
"Yeah, I think you're right, Bosco." She squeezed his hand briefly, gazing at him. Then she let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around his waist in a hug.
He returned the embrace, resting his head against hers as they held each other.
Faith closed her eyes, knowing that he felt just as relieved as she did hearing the news about the little boy who'd touched both their hearts on Christmas Eve. He was right. Everything was going to be okay now.
~Fini~
Authors: NYPDBosco and X_tremeroswellian
Emails: mauriceboscorelli@yahoo.com & faithboscorelli1@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Not ours.
Rating: PG
Hmm…up to about third season.
Summary: Bosco and Faith bond on Christmas Eve after getting called to a case involving an abandoned infant.
Ask, and it shall be given you
Seek, and ye shall find
Knock, and it shall be opened unto you
-Matthew 7:7
Matthew 7:7
She glanced around the street nervously before climbing out of her small, beat-up gremlin. She reached into the backseat and carefully removed the small infant carrier where the little boy lay sleeping peacefully. She gazed down at him for a long moment, her heart pounding heavily in her chest. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "But you deserve more than this. I love you." She placed a soft kiss against his forehead, and he stirred but didn't awaken.
Tears prickling her eyes, she sniffled and crossed the street, walking up the steps of the building, shivering in the cold winter air. She bit her lip and pulled the door of the church open, pausing just inside the entrance and drawing in a shaky breath. She didn't see anyone around. A little surprising since it was Christmas Eve. People would show up soon enough. She gazed down at the little boy. She knew in her heart this was what was best for him. "Goodbye," she whispered, carefully setting the carrier down and pressing a hand to her mouth as she quickly exited the church. It was for the best, but it didn't make her heart any less heavy.
Rebecca tucked a strand of her wavy red hair behind her ear and crossed the road to her car once more, not bothering to brush away the tears that streamed down her face. She prayed that her baby would find parents that would be able to take care of him the way he deserved. The way she couldn't.
She crawled into the driver's seat of her car and looked in the rearview mirror, wincing at the large bruise on her cheek and reminding herself why this was better for her son. She wouldn't allow him to be brutalized by his father the way that she was, even though she'd left him months ago. Her son would have a better life than she could ever hope to give him.
Because it was Christmas time. The season for miracles.
* * *
Bosco pulled the RMP to a stop in front of the church, and put the car in park. "So, this is the place," he said as he looked out the window.
"1225 East Bethlehem," she murmured, gazing up at the building.
He sighed, and opened his car door.
Faith did the same, climbing out of the squad slowly, squinting against the lightly falling snow. She glanced back at Bosco briefly before crossing the street and quickly walking up the steps.
"Of all nights to get one of these calls."
"Yeah," she agreed softly, grabbing the door handle and holding it open for him.
He nodded his thanks, and stepped inside, removing his hat.
She pulled her hat off as well, stuffing it into her jacket pocket and stepping inside the church, glancing around. There were very few people in the pews, and the ones that were there were scattered about, each appearing to be there alone. She drew in a breath as she heard a small cry from the alter. The priest was leaning over the infant carrier, apparently trying to calm the child.
Bosco ran a hand over his face. "Let's do this," he whispered.
Faith reached out and patted his arm gently before moving forward. "Excuse me, Father," she said softly.
He looked up, and smiled sadly. "Hello officers."
She glanced down at the baby, who was still fussing. "How long ago did you call?"
"An hour...maybe longer." He glanced down at the baby, then back up at Faith. "I've never really handled a baby before."
She nodded slightly and glanced at Bosco. "You wanna take his statement or take care of the baby?" she asked, more out of consideration than anything else. She knew what his answer would be.
"I'll uh...I'll take the statement," he told her as he looked down at the baby.
Faith offered him a small smile before lifting the tiny child out of the carrier. "Hi, there," she whispered, kissing his forehead lightly before cradling him in her arms. He calmed down almost immediately.
The corner of Bosco's mouth turned up into a grin as he watched his partner for a moment. He then turned his attention back to the priest. "So, did you find the baby?"
Her attention drifted away from Bosco's questioning as she cuddled the infant. She rubbed his back gently, placing another soft kiss against his head. Her gaze fell on the carrier where there was an envelope in the seat.
Bosco began to take notes as he got the story from the priest. He glanced at Faith, his eyes narrowing slightly as he watched her reach into the baby carrier.
"Boz. There's a note."
"Yeah?" He closed his notepad, and moved over to stand beside her.
She carefully balanced the child in one arm as she opened the envelope and pulled the letter out.
Please make sure my baby finds a good home. His name is Matthew.
Bosco stared at the note. "That's it?"
"Looks like." She flipped it over to look at the back, but there was nothing else.
He sighed, and his shoulders slumped. "So I guess we call Children's Services."
She nodded slightly. "I'll do it," she said softly.
"You want me to uh...take Matthew?"
"No, it's okay, Boz. I've got him." She offered him a small, sad smile before heading toward the back of the church.
Bosco nodded his head, watching her walk away. He turned back to the priest. "So you have no idea who left the baby here? Was there anyone here who may have seen someone?"
"No, there was no one here when I came out."
"Have you ever seen the baby before? Maybe at one of your services or functions."
Father Mannigan shook his head sadly, his face weary. "No, no...I don't recognize the child."
"You don't happen to have any security cameras set up at your entrance do you," he asked hopefully.
"No, we haven't been able to afford that kind of security."
He nodded his head, and pulled out his card. "If you hear anything give me a call," he said softly, handing him his card before picking up the baby carrier and diaper bag that was on the floor.
"I will. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help. Will the child be okay?"
Bosco looked toward the back of the church, and then back at the man. "I hope so."
* * *
Bosco sat across the table from Faith watching her interact with the baby who was in his carrier on the tabletop. He leaned forward a little as he watched them, his mind full of questions.
Her gaze was locked on the tiny infant, who was smiling at her as he gripped her finger in his small hand. "You're a sweet little boy," she murmured, unable to keep from smiling back at him.
"Why would anybody do this," he asked in a barely audible whisper.
She fell silent, her eyes still focused on the child.
"Look at him," he continued in a whisper. "He's beautiful and he seems to be perfectly healthy, and well taken care of."
"I don't know, Boz." Her voice was soft, and she kissed the baby's fingers lightly. "There could be a lot of reasons."
He nodded his head, and slowly reached out to touch Matthew's leg.
Matthew's gaze shifted to Bosco and he smiled at the other officer.
A grin tugged at his lips as he lifted his hand, rubbing the child's cheek.
Faith's gaze shifted over to her partner, and a soft, sad smile touched her lips. "You're good with kids."
He looked at her. "You think so?"
"Yeah. Emily and Charlie have always loved spendin' time with ya and...well, I mean, look at Matthew. You're gonna make a great father someday, Boz."
"Thanks," he whispered softly. He glanced back at Matthew, and then at Faith. "Maybe one of us should hold him," he suggested out of the blue.
She nodded. "You wanna hold him?"
"Well...only if you don't want to," he told her, trying to put on his macho act.
"That's all right. I need to use the little girl's room anyway." She suppressed a smile.
"Okay, well...hurry back." He stood up so he could take Matthew out of the carrier.
She shook her head slightly and headed for the women's restroom.
"Come here, Champ," he said softly as he picked up the baby, and cradled him in his arms before sitting back down.
Faith returned a few moments later, but stopped a few feet away, gazing at Bosco and Matthew. She smiled faintly at the sight. Her usually macho partner was completely enchanted by the small child. She wished she had a camera.
He spoke softly to the baby as he held him. "They're gonna find you a good home. With good people."
As she approached the table silently, she heard his soft promise to the baby and she had to blink back tears.
"It'll be okay." He gently touched the baby's forehead.
When she sat down at the table again, she sat beside Bosco, gazing at him wordlessly.
"We gotta make sure they put him in a good home," he whispered, knowing Faith was there, but not looking at her.
"We will." Her voice was soft and she touched his arm lightly as she gazed at Matthew, who smiled at her.
"I bet there's a lot of families who'd love to have a little boy like him."
Faith nodded silently, glancing up when she heard the bell on the door jingle. A woman in a nice black suede skirt and a green blouse walked over to them.
"Officers Boscorelli and Yokas?"
"That's us," Bosco replied as he looked up at the woman.
"I'm Michelle Greene from Children Services." Her voice was soft, friendly as she smiled at them. She pulled out her identification badge.
"I'm Bosco." He nodded his head toward his partner. "That's Faith, and this..." He shifted the baby in his arms. "This is Matthew."
Michelle smiled at the baby. "I just have a few questions and then I'll take him off your hands."
"Well, there's not a whole lot to tell."
"I assume we have no idea who the biological parents are?"
Bosco nodded his head. "Yeah, the note didn't give any information except that his name's Matthew."
"And no one saw who left the child in St. Michael's Church?"
"No," he said sadly. "Nobody saw anything, and they don't have any security cameras."
Michelle sighed softly. "All right. Do you have a card in case I have anymore questions?"
He shifted so he could pull a card out of his pocket. Reaching across the table he handed it to her.
"Thanks." She slid it into her jacket pocket. "Well, are you ready to go, Matthew?"
"He's been pretty good so far. Only fussed a couple times." He looked down at the baby. "He likes to be held."
"We'll take good care of him."
"What um...what exactly happens now?" Faith's voice was soft.
"Well, tonight he'll spend the night either at the hospital or with one of the agency workers. Tomorrow we'll start looking for a suitable foster home until we can either locate the biological parents to see if they both agreed to give the child up, and if that doesn't work out, we'll start looking for people who want to adopt him."
"We'd like to be updated on his uh...status," Bosco told her.
Michelle smiled softly. "Not a problem. I've got your card."
Bosco nodded his head, and reluctantly stood up to put Matthew back in the carried. He took his time strapping him in, wishing he didn't have to let the baby out of his sight. Wanting to protect him, and make sure that everything went well.
Faith stood up as well, closing her eyes as she kissed Matthew's forehead softly, touched his cheek with her finger. "Good luck, little one," she whispered.
He let out a breath as he watched Michelle pick up the carrier. "See ya, Champ."
They watched as the woman headed for the exit of the small diner. She rubbed the back of her neck briefly.
Bosco sighed heavily, and sat back down.
Faith gave his shoulder a light squeeze, but remained quiet, glancing up again as Sully and Davis stepped inside, followed by Jimmy Doherty, Kim Zambrano, Doc Parker, Carlos Nieto and Alex Taylor.
"So, what's goin' on," Sully asked as he approached their table, noticing the sad expressions on their faces.
Kim took a seat in the nearest chair, glancing over at Bosco and Faith.
"We got a call. Somebody dumped their baby boy off at St. Michael's," Bosco informed them. "Children Services just took him."
Alex hooked her thumb over her shoulder. "Was that the baby?"
Faith nodded silently.
"And merry Christmas," Davis muttered.
"Cute baby," Alex said softly.
"Was there something wrong with him," Carlos asked curiously. "Was that why they gave him up?"
"We're not sure. He seemed to be pretty healthy," Faith said softly.
Jimmy shook his head. "I never did understand how anyone could give up their kid. They've got a responsibility. Nothin' like dumpin' them on somebody else. Just goes to show they've got no concern for others."
Carlos's head shot up. "You think that's all there is to it?! You think people just decide in a split second that they don't want their child, and then they just dump 'em off somewhere?!"
"Easy, Carlos. Jimmy didn't mean--" Kim tried to intervene.
"That's a very easy statement to make when you've never been in someone else's shoes," Faith said quietly, gazing at the firefighter across the table.
"Yeah Doherty! You've got -no- idea how hard it is to make that decision." Carlos gave him a disgusted look. "Whichever decision you make you're always gonna wonder if it was the right one. But I knew I couldn't provide for my daughter. If I wanted her to have a good life I had to find her a good family," he stated, his voice raised slightly, still feeling like he'd been personally attacked.
"Okay, I don't think he meant you, Carlos," Doc said, glancing at him.
"Yeah, well..." The paramedic let his voice trail off.
Sully crossed his arms over his chest. "So this kid--"
"Matthew," Bosco interrupted.
He glanced at Bosco. "Right, Matthew. He's gonna end up in the system? They'd got no clue about any family that's out there?"
Faith reluctantly shifted her gaze away from Jimmy and looked at Sully. "No, we have no idea who his biological family is. The woman said he'd end up in foster care until they could either locate his parents or find a family who wanted to adopt him."
"Hopefully they find him a family fast," Carlos whispered.
Bosco nodded his head. "Yeah, that'd be nice. I mean, you'd think with him being just a baby he'd have a better chance of bein' adopted...right?"
"Hopefully," Kim murmured. "I can't imagine having to make that choice...giving up your child." She shook her head.
"I can't imagine just dropping your baby off at a random public place," Davis said. "I mean, it's one thing to give your kid up for adoption through an agency, but to just leave him someplace? That's not right."
"We don't know what the situation is," Faith said, looking down at the table.
"Whoever left him had taken good care of him. I'm guessing that they really cared about him," Bosco said softly. He took a deep breath, and then stood up, leaving the table without another word.
She glanced up and watched with sad eyes as he headed toward the men's restroom.
"He alright," Jimmy asked as he watched Bosco walk away.
"Yeah, he's all right," she murmured, knowing Bosco wouldn't want her or anyone else to make a big deal out of his actions.
Bosco went into the restroom, and stood in front of the mirror staring at his reflection for a moment. He turned on the faucet, and splashed cold water on his face trying to snap himself out of the funk he was in. Ever since they'd gotten the call there had been a sadness tugging at his heart, and it'd only gotten worse after they'd had to hand Matthew over to Children Services.
Faith sighed softly and leaned back in her chair, staring out the window at the lightly falling snow, visible only because of the streetlights. "Silent Night" played softly on the diner's radio and as she listened to the words, she suddenly felt very tired and wished the shift was over.
"I guess I still don't get it." Davis's voice was quiet.
"What's there to get, Davis," Sully asked.
"Why not just go directly to Children's Services? Or a police station? Anybody could have kidnapped him out of the church if no one was around when they left him."
"Maybe it wasn't a mutual agreement between the parents," Alex offered up.
"Well that's even worse. I mean, if one of the parents wanted the kid..." Davis shook his head.
Sully sighed. "There's a million possibilities."
Kim rested her hands on the table. "I guess I can see Davis's point though." She glanced at Jimmy.
"Is that a shot at me," Doherty asked with a raised eyebrow.
Her eyebrows furrowed. "How is that a shot at you?"
"Just figured you were tryin' to take a shot at me cause of not bein' in Joey's life as much as I should have been for a while there."
"Well, you figured wrong."
"So maybe she was a single mother," Carlos suggested.
"Or young," Sully added. "Coulda been two young kids havin' a baby before they were ready."
Faith rose to her feet and left the table, wandering back to the men's bathroom. She glanced around, then knocked softly.
Bosco broke out of his trance. "Uh...just a minute."
"It's just me," she said softly.
"Oh," he whispered as he moved over to the door, and pulled it open.
She gazed at him. "You okay?"
He nodded his head quickly. "Yeah. You?"
"Yeah. But I'm not really hungry and...I'm tired of sittin' out there. You wanna go?"
Bosco nodded his head, and stepped out of the restroom. "Let's go."
Faith headed back to the table, stopping long enough to slip her coat on again. "See you guys later. Merry Christmas."
"Leavin' so soon," Sully asked as Bosco also came back to the table, grabbing his jacket.
"Yeah, well...we ate earlier," she lied easily, offering him a small smile.
"Oh okay, well, we'll see you later." Sully gave them a small wave.
"Later," Bosco mumbled as he pulled on his stocking cap, and headed for the door.
"Merry Christmas," Kim said, watching as they left the restaurant.
Faith reached out and touched his hand briefly as they headed for their RMP in silence.
He turned to look at her. "Tonight sucks."
She looked back at him sadly. "Let's lay low for the rest of the shift," she said softly.
"No argument here," he responded as he slid into the driver's seat.
* * *
Faith finished changing into her civvies, staring at the picture of Emily and Charlie taped to the inside of her locker as the officers around chatted cheerfully, wishing one another happy holidays. She was oblivious to all of it, lost in thought.
Bosco sat in front of his locker, and slowly pulled on his hooded sweatshirt. He'd been dragging for the last few hours, totally drained of physical energy even though he hadn't done anything exerting. Sighing he closed his locker, and snapped the lock shut. "You want a ride," he asked softly as he lifted his head to look at Faith.
She blinked a couple of times and glanced over at him. It took a moment for his words to register, even though it was the same question he asked her night after night. She always said no, generally preferring to walk and clear her head before she got home to her family. She surprised them both with an instant, "Yeah. Thanks."
He stared at her for a moment then nodded his head. "You ready?"
Faith gazed back at him. "Yeah. I'm ready."
Standing up he grabbed his jacket off the bench, and made his way toward the door.
She followed him silently.
He shivered when they got outside, and he pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up to cover his head as he walked toward the car.
She drew in a breath of the cold air, wrapped her arms around herself and waited at the passenger side for him to climb in the car and unlock the door.
Once they were both inside the mustang he started the car, and turned on the heat before sitting back, allowing the car to warm up. "I'm exhausted."
"Yeah, me too," she murmured, gazing out the windshield.
He was silent for a moment. "You think he's okay," he asked in a whisper.
It took her a few seconds. "Yeah. I think so." I hope so, she thought.
Bosco nodded, and then rolled his head to the side to look at her. "It was personal for me."
She shifted her gaze to look at him, remaining silent.
He let out a breath. "As soon as I saw him, and heard him fussin'. It just...it really hit me. I mean, he's just a baby and he's got nobody."
She was more than a little disturbed by his words. "They'll find him a good family."
"But what if they don't? What if...what if they put him in some foster home, and he ends up with lousy parents? It's not fair."
Faith looked away, out the window. "And maybe he'll be a lot better off than wherever he was," she said softly, her voice barely audible.
"Maybe there's someone out there who needs him just as much as he needs them, ya know?"
She nodded silently, closing her eyes and exhaling slowly.
"If I wasn't single..." He let his voice trail off.
"He'd be lucky to have you."
He looked up at the ceiling of the car, and then closed his eyes. "Can I ask you somethin'?"
"Yeah. Sure." Her voice was soft.
"Do you think they dropped him off at a church for a reason? Like maybe they thought...God would help him or something? Or was it just convenient?"
She was silent for a moment. "I'd like to think they had a reason. That they believed he'd be safe in a church. That good people would find him," she said softly.
Bosco straightened up in the seat, and put the car in gear. "You ready to go home?"
"Yeah." She nodded slightly and turned to gaze out the passenger side window again.
He checked his mirrors, and pulled out into the street, heading for her apartment.
The ride to her place was relatively silent, neither of them speaking to the other, lost in their own thoughts. She made no move to get out of his car when he stopped in front of her building, though her eyes drifted up to the third floor. The apartment was dark, Fred had apparently already gone to bed, too tired to wait up for her after her long shift.
He left the car running not sure how long they were going to sit there, and wanting to keep the heat on. Bosco glanced at the clock on his radio. "It's Christmas," he whispered.
"Yeah," she whispered back.
"I can't seem to let this go," he told her softly.
She nodded imperceptibly though she didn't look at him.
"You got big plans for today?"
She shrugged slightly. "Not really. We're just stayin' here, opening gifts and I'm fixin' dinner later." She paused. "What about you?"
"I'm goin' to Ma's for dinner, and that's pretty much it."
"Why don't you come over when you're done at your mom's?"
He turned to look at her. "You sure?"
Faith shifted her gaze to him. "Yeah. Of course."
Bosco gave her a small smile. "Thanks."
She smiled back at him, her eyes soft. "You're welcome. You can help me fix the green bean casserole." Her voice was a little lighter than it had been all night.
"Oh that sounds like fun," he chuckled softly.
She winked at him. "I won't even throw any food at ya."
"And if you do I ain't cleanin' it up."
"Nah, we'll make Fred clean it up."
He nodded his head, and grew quiet once more.
She reached out and touched his arm. "You gonna be okay, Bosco?"
"Yeah," he whispered. "I'll manage."
Faith studied him for a moment in silence. "Why don't you spend the night?"
"That's okay. I don't wanna get in the way."
"No, really. Spend the night, eat breakfast with us, open packages in the morning. I forgot to bring your gifts to work today, anyway. Besides, the kids would love to wake up and find their 'Uncle B' there on Christmas morning."
"That does sound pretty tempting," he whispered.
She smiled warmly and held out her hand. "I'd like it if you stayed, too."
He took hold of her hand. "I have a request...if it's not too much trouble."
"What's the request?" she asked curiously.
"I've uh...I've been thinkin' that I'd like to...go to church in the morning," he said softly.
Faith gazed at him. "I think that's a really good idea."
"Will you go with me?"
Her eyes softened. "Sure, if you want me to."
He nodded his head. "I'm not a big church goer, but after this shift..."
"I know." She squeezed his hand lightly. After a second, she leaned across the seat and kissed his cheek gently. "You're a good man, Bosco."
Bosco gazed at her. "You're a good friend. I'm glad I have you."
"That goes both ways."
He smiled at her, and then shut the car off. "How 'bout we go get some sleep?"
"Yeah, or Santa might not leave us any presents."
"He'll leave us presents cause we've both been good," he told her with a grin.
"Well, -I've- been good," she said with a light chuckle. "You on the other hand..."
"Funny Yokas."
Faith winked at him as she climbed out of the car, waiting for him before they headed up toward her building.
Bosco leaned against the wall as he watched Faith unlock her apartment. Just as she was getting ready to push the door open he reached out and stopped her. "You sure it's okay if I stay tonight?"
She nodded. "Yeah, it's fine, Boz."
"Just checkin'," he told her with a small grin.
She smiled softly, then turned the door handle, opening the door. She stepped inside and set her purse on the table by the door before shrugging out of her jacket. The apartment was silent except for Fred's snoring from down the hall. She grimaced. No wonder I don't sleep half the time, she thought.
"Sounds like somebody's asleep," Bosco chuckled.
"Yeah, I swear one of these days the neighbors are gonna complain."
Bosco took his jacket off, and hung it up by the door. "Your tree looks great," he observed as he moved into the living room where the tree was still lit.
"Thanks. It took about five hours to get it up and decorate it."
"Well all the work definitely paid off." He looked under the tree. "Doesn't look like Santa's been here yet."
"No, Santa hasn't finished wrapping gifts. Mrs. Claus gets to do it."
"Oh." He nodded his head. "Does Mrs. Claus need some help?"
A faint smile touched her lips. "If you want to."
"I can't guarantee they'll be the best wrapping jobs, but..."
"That's all right. That's what happens when Santa leaves the wrapping for his wife who worked a nine hour shift."
"Somebody needs to put Santa on the naughty list."
Faith grinned. "Well, I'm sure we could find some coal for his stocking."
"If you wanna get the gifts and stuff I could make hot chocolate or somethin'," he offered.
She nodded. "That'd be good. Thanks, Bosco." She smiled, then turned and headed for her bedroom.
He found the canister he was looking for in the cupboard next to the refrigerator, and then pulled down two mugs. A couple minutes later the microwave dinged, and he took the hot chocolates out, setting them on the counter. As he put away the mix he found an open bag of marshmallows, and decided to dump a few in each of their mugs before heading into the living room.
Faith returned a moment later, dressed in warm flannel pajamas, her hair tied back in a ponytail as she carried a basket full of boxes, presents and wrapping paper. She set the items down on the living room floor, scooting the coffee table back away from the couch to make room for them to sit on the floor and use the table for wrapping.
"Kids get anything good this year," he asked with raised eyebrows as he looked toward the basket.
"Three new Playstation games for Charlie, a computer program Em wanted, plus a lot of CDs and Harry Potter merchandise."
"Sounds like they made out pretty good." He reached for one of the Playstation games, and a roll of wrapping paper.
"Yeah, well...the extra overtime hours came in handy."
"I bet," he whispered, reaching for the scissors. "Kids are expensive these days."
Faith fell silent at his words as her mind drifted to Matthew and she wondered who'd ended up taking him in for the night. Hopefully somewhere people would take good care of him.
"When you and Fred were startin' out...when you first had Em, did you ever think about...well did you ever think you couldn't do it? That it was too hard?"
She was quiet for a moment. "Yeah, of course. I mean, we were really young. I was eighteen. Fred was barely nineteen. We had a lot of problems between us. He floated from job to job from nearly two years and...I was never sure we were gonna have enough money to eat, let alone pay bills. It was scary as hell."
"Did you ever think about giving her up," he asked in a whisper as he stared at the table.
She wasn't quite sure how to answer him. "Honestly?"
Bosco turned to look at her, and nodded his head.
Faith lifted her gaze to his face. "Yeah, when I first found out I was pregnant. My dad told me either give the baby up or get married."
"So you got married," he said softly.
"Yeah," she said just as softly, nodding.
"And when you guys were struggling did you ever think about..."
"Dropping her off at a church?"
"Yeah, somethin' like that."
She gazed at him. "No. I needed her too much, pathetic as that might sound."
He smiled softly. "That's not pathetic."
A faint smile touched her lips. "Emily was...she was my lifeline, you know? No matter how bad things got with money, or with me and Fred, all it took was one smile from her and...I knew everything would turn out okay."
Bosco went back to wrapping Charlie's gift. "I'm glad it did."
"Yeah. Yeah, me too." She finished wrapping the last CD in the basket and marked the tag with her daughter's name.
He set Charlie's gift aside, and reached for another one. "I know they're still pretty young, but I hope your kids realize how good they've got it. Realize how much you and Fred love them, and the things you do for them."
"I just want them to be happy." Her voice was soft.
"They're loved. They've got food, clothes and shelter." He then pointed at the gifts. "Somewhere in all this I'm willing to bet there's some happiness."
Faith was quiet for a moment, finding his words comforting. "What about you?" she asked very softly.
His eyes narrowed in confusion. "What about me?"
"Are you happy, Boz?"
He shrugged. "Sometimes."
"Just sometimes?"
"In case you haven't noticed...there's a lot missin' in my life." He started wrapping the next gift.
She set down the package she was holding and put a hand on his shoulder, not sure of what to say, but wanting to comfort him.
He managed half a smile as he turned to look at her. "But I'm spendin' Christmas with my partner, so right now things are pretty damn good."
She squeezed his shoulder lightly. "Well, I don't know if it helps any, but...I'm really glad you're here. Now I'm with my -whole- family."
"Thanks for askin' me, Faith."
"You're welcome." She smiled at him, then let her hand drop from his arm as she set to work wrapping the final gift in the basket.
Bosco stood up, serious conversation over, and began to place the gifts under the tree.
Faith stood up as well, resting her hands on her hips as she yawned. "I don't know about you, but I'm beat."
"Don't do that," he said as he yawned.
She gave him a wry smile. "Sorry."
He put the last gift under the tree, and dragged his hand down his face. "I think it's definitely time to get some sleep."
She nodded and walked over to the closet. "You wanna pull out the sofa bed or sleep on it as is?"
"It's fine as it is. Less clean up in the morning."
"Well, don't worry about that. Do whatever's gonna be most comfy."
"Most comfy," he asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.
"Comfy...short for comfortable," she said, smirking back.
He rolled his eyes.
Faith chuckled softly as she pulled three extra blankets out of the closet, as well as a couple of pillows.
Bosco took one of the blankets from her when she came back over to him, and he spread it out on the sofa. "So it'd probably be inappropriate for me to sleep in the buff tonight, huh?"
She smacked him lightly in the arm. "Maybe if the kids weren't here." She couldn't resist teasing him.
He chuckled as he sat down, and pulled off his sweatshirt. "You know you'd love to see me naked."
"Never said I wouldn't," she replied with another smirk as she sank down in the chair by the sofa.
With a grin he began to take off his shoes. "So how long you figure it'll be before Charlie comes tearin' in here in the morning?"
"Hmm...well...it's nearly two now, so...probably about four or five hours."
"That gives me plenty of time then." He took off his belt, but left his jeans on.
She smiled faintly, her gaze drifting to the Christmas tree. "You want me to leave the tree plugged in, or should I unplug it?" She kept her voice casual, though they both know why she asked the question. She was asking, but she wasn't going to make a big deal out of it either way.
Bosco laid down. "You can keep it plugged in."
"All right." She slowly stood up, then reached out and picked up the blankets, covering him up with them without thinking about it.
He smiled softly. "Thanks."
She smiled back. "Sure." She leaned down and kissed his forehead lightly. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Faith," he whispered as he closed his eyes.
Faith gazed down at him for a long moment, her eyes full of warmth. Then she stretched her arms over her head and walked down the hallway toward her bedroom, groaning softly when she heard Fred's snoring get louder the closer she got. She made a face, then turned and headed across the hallway, checking in on the kids. She hesitated a moment, then crossed the room to where her daughter lay sleeping and she leaned over, kissing her cheek lightly. She did the same to Charlie. Then she went to her bedroom, determined to get at least a couple of hours sleep before the sun rose.
* * *
Faith's eyebrows furrowed as sunlight crept across her face from the window. She could feel someone shaking her shoulder, and heard an annoyed voice saying her name. "Hmmm," she grumbled, not opening her eyes.
"Mom. Come on. It's morning," Charlie informed her as he continued to try and wake her.
She tried to pull the pillow over her head. "Five more minutes," she murmured.
"Mom, it's Christmas."
"Yeah, and Mrs. Claus worked late."
He huffed in frustration. "You can take a nap after we open presents."
"Fred...your son needs you," she grumbled, refusing to open her eyes.
Charlie hopped up on the bed. "If you don't hurry up I'm just gonna open presents without you."
"Oh, you think so?"
"I -know- so."
A smile crept onto her lips and she opened her eyes, reaching out and grabbing her son, tickling him in the ribs. "I don't think so."
He laughed as he tried to push her hands away. "Mom!"
She grinned a little wider. "You know how to make me stop." She pointed to her cheek with her index finger before tickling him again.
"Never," Charlie chuckled.
"So I guess you don't want the huge surprise that's out in the living room."
Charlie quickly kissed his mother's cheek. "Better?"
Faith smiled. "Much. Now go on out. We'll be there in a minute."
"I'm timing you," he informed her as he jumped off the bed, and headed down the hallway.
Bosco pulled the blankets up to his chin as he turned onto his side, sleeping peacefully.
He wandered out into the living room, stopping abruptly when he spotted Bosco sleeping on the couch. His eyes widened. "Uncle B!" he said excitedly, grinning from ear to ear.
Bosco's eyebrows furrowed, a groan escaping him as he pulled the covers over his head.
Charlie crawled up on the sofa beside Bosco, hugging him around the waist even though he was covered up by the blankets. "Merry Christmas!"
Bosco pulled the blanket off his head, and with his eyes barely open he looked at the young boy. "Merry Christmas, Chuck."
He grinned. "What are you doing here?"
"I was tryin' to sleep," he said lightly as he ruffled the boy's hair.
"It's time to open presents," Charlie informed him.
Bosco yawned. "What time is it?"
"Six fifteen."
"Geez. I feel like I just went to bed." He shifted a little and wrapped his arm around Charlie. "You wake your folks up yet?"
"Mom's awake. Dad's still snoring."
"What about your sister?"
"She's curling her hair." He rolled his eyes.
"Seriously?"
He nodded. "It takes her forever. I hid her curling iron one time and Dad yelled at me."
Bosco chuckled. "Tell you what...since it's probably gonna be a while before everybody gets out here why don't you go check out what's under the tree? I'm pretty sure there's something for you from me."
His eyes widened. "Really?"
He nodded his head. "Yeah, why don't you go find it," he suggested.
Charlie grinned broadly and all but leapt off the couch and dove under the tree.
* * *
"Come on, Fred. Wake up."
"It's early, Faith," he grumbled.
"Yeah, and it's also Christmas."
"Kids up?"
"Well, Charlie is. I haven't seen Emily yet."
He sighed heavily, rolling onto his back and staring at the ceiling. "I'm looking foward to the day when the kids sleep in on Christmas."
"You'll regret wishing that one of these days."
"Well...not today," he chuckled as he turned to look at her.
A small smile touched her lips. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, baby," he whispered, leaning over to kiss her.
She kissed him back lightly.
He smiled. "So, Santa got everything delivered right?"
"And wrapped," she said wryly as she pulled away, giving him a look.
"What? I thought you liked doing that stuff?"
She made a face. "Well, lucky for me I had help."
His eyebrows furrowed. "What?"
Faith paused. "From an elf." She smiled, winked at him and climbed out of bed as she went over to her closet.
"An elf?" He sat up, and grabbed his jeans off the floor. "Who was your elf?"
She drew in a breath, walked over and shut the bedroom door softly. "Don't get mad."
His eyes narrowed. "Faith."
"Look, Bosco spent the night on the sofa." She quickly held up a hand as she saw his mouth twist into a dark frown. "It was a really rough shift last night."
"So you brought him home?"
"Actually he brought me home." She headed back over to the closet.
Fred rolled his eyes then stood up, and pulled on his jeans. "So he brought you home, and then you invited him to spend the night?"
"Pretty much."
"And you don't want me to get mad?"
"No, I don't want you to get mad."
"He's gonna leave, right? Before we..."
"No, he's not," she said softly, her voice calm. "I asked him to stay, to spend the day."
"Why Faith?! This is our family time."
"And Bosco is part of my family." She didn't turn around to look at him as she pulled a warm red sweater out of her closet.
He sighed. "I guess...seeing as it's Christmas..."
"Thank you," she said softly, a small smile on her face.
Fred went over to his dresser, and pulled out a sweatshirt. "So...the shift was that bad, huh?"
Faith was quiet for a moment as she changed out of her pajamas. "Yeah," she whispered.
"What happened?"
She exhaled slowly. "We got called to St. Michael's Church...someone abandoned this little baby. He was only a few months old. His name's Matthew."
"Oh man," he whispered as he walked over to her. He kissed the back of her head. "That's terrible."
"Yeah, it was rough. He was a really sweet baby."
"So what's gonna happen to him?"
"We don't really know. The woman from Children's Services said he'd probably be in foster care until they could find a family who wanted to adopt him." Her voice was soft.
Fred wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry, honey."
She leaned back against him, closing her eyes. "Yeah. Me too. I hate calls like that."
"Hey," he whispered. "How 'bout we go out into the living room? Nothing like Christmas morning to cheer a person up, huh?"
She nodded. "Yeah." She turned around to face him. "Thanks for not bein' upset about Boz bein' here today."
He smiled softly. "I think I can handle Maurice Boscorelli for one day."
She kissed him lightly. "It means a lot to me."
"Consider it your Christmas gift," he chuckled.
Faith grinned. "I love you."
"Love you, too." He kissed her forehead.
She touched his face gently, then took his hand and headed for the door.
Fred gave her hand a squeeze as they walked down the hallway.
She smiled widely as they walked into the living room and she spotted Bosco and Charlie sitting on the sofa. There was shredded wrapping paper scattered around where they were sitting and her son was staring intently at the item in his hand.
Bosco looked up when he heard them come into the room. "I let him open the gift I got him. I hope that's okay."
She smiled softly at him. "It's fine, Bosco. Good morning."
"Mornin'." He smiled at her as well, and gave Fred a nod. "Hey Fred."
"Hey Bosco."
"Emily!" Faith glanced toward the hallway. "Come on!"
"Hold your horses I'm almost ready!"
She raised her eyebrows. "Yeah to be grounded if you don't change your tone of voice."
A few moments later Emily entered the living room. Hair done, makeup on, and dressed as if she was going out for the day.
Faith shook her head slightly and glanced over at Bosco, rolling her eyes.
He covered his mouth, as he chuckled.
"Okay, I'm..." Her eyes widened slightly. "Bosco?"
"Merry Christmas, Emily," he responded with a smile.
Charlie stood up on the sofa. "Look what Uncle B gave me! It's a baseball signed by Mike Piazza!"
"Let me see that, Chaz." Fred walked over to his son, a smile on his face at the boy's excitement.
He handed the baseball over to his dad, grinning broadly.
Faith smiled at her son, then at Bosco. She turned and headed into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"This is great," Fred informed him. "Did you thank Bosco for the gift?"
He nodded, and wrapped his arms around Bosco's neck again. "Thanks, Uncle B!"
Bosco smiled as he hugged Charlie. "You're welcome, buddy." He looked over at Emily. "I got you somethin' too, Em."
She smiled softly, and glanced at her dad as she made her way over to the tree to find her gift.
Faith watched as the coffee slowly trickled down into the pot and she yawned, closing her eyes briefly. Then she straightened up and headed over to the fridge, pulling out a can of cinnamon rolls from the bottom drawer.
Emily found her gift in an envelope. She glanced at Bosco before opening it, and pulling out a gift card.
"I know it's not real original or all that exciting." He shrugged. "I wasn't sure what to get so I figured you could pick whatever you wanted. Your mom said you like that store."
She nodded. "Yeah, I do. Thanks Bosco."
Charlie was still holding onto the baseball Bosco had given him, but he was hopping around the living room anxiously. "Mo-om! Come on!"
"Yeah, come on Faith," Bosco joined in.
Faith rolled her eyes as she moved to the entrance of the kitchen. "Go ahead and start. I'll be there in a minute."
"You know we can't start with out you," Fred told her.
She sighed. "I'm makin' cinnamon rolls and coffee."
Bosco stood up. "Here, I'll do that. You guys can get started opening gifts."
She shook her head. "No, it's just gonna take a minute."
"Don't be so stubborn. Just go sit on the sofa."
She raised her eyebrows at him. "Don't get lippy with me, Boz." Her voice was light.
He shook his head. "And don't make me embarrass you in front of your kids."
"Meaning what?"
"I don't think you wanna find out," he chuckled as he moved into the kitchen, and pulled down three coffee mugs.
Faith smiled at him. "Thanks, Boz."
He just looked at her, his eyes bright.
She met and held his gaze. "Merry Christmas," she said very softly, glad that he was there to spend the day with them.
"Merry Christmas, Faith," he whispered.
* * *
Bosco and Faith stood on the sidewalk outside of St. Michael's. It was snowing lightly, and there was a good crowd filing into the church for the early Mass. "Thanks for comin' with me."
She reached out and took his hand, a faint, sad smile on her face. "Glad to be here."
"It just seems like it's the right thing to do today."
"Yeah. It does." She nodded her agreement, and took a deep breath as she looked up at the church. It looked different in the daytime. A little less intimidating.
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze as they headed up the steps. Once inside they took a seat near the back.
She wasn't used to prolonged physical contact with Bosco by any stretch of the imagination. Even brief physical contact between them was usually rare. But under the circumstances, keeping hold of his hand felt right. Comforting. She glanced over at him a couple times during Father Mannigan's sermon.
It had been a very long time since he'd been to a church service, but today he just felt the need to be here. He couldn't quite explain it, but he knew that Faith understood. He was attentive during the sermon, but occasionally, when he felt Faith looking at him he'd give her hand a gentle squeeze. During a moment of silence, a time when the parishioners were to pray, he made sure to pray for Matthew, and then thanked God for giving him a partner like Faith. Someone he could let his guard down in front of.
When the service ended, they stood up slowly, but made no move toward the door. "How ya doin'?" she asked softly.
He nodded his head, letting out a breath. "I'm doin' alright," he told her, his voice just as soft. "You?"
"I'm okay, too. I'm glad we came."
"Me too." He smiled softly.
She started to lead him toward the door when she heard someone call their names. She turned to see Father Mannigan approaching them. She glanced at Bosco briefly, wondering what was going on.
Bosco shrugged. "Merry Christmas Father."
"Merry Christmas. I'm glad you made it."
"Well...after yesterday somethin' just kinda drew us here, ya know?"
Faith stood close to her partner, gazing at the priest silently.
"I have news."
His eyes widened slightly, and he looked at Faith quickly before returning his attention back to Father Mannigan. "What kinda news?"
"I was approached by a young couple this morning. They've been trying for several months now to have children, with no success." He paused. "They're interested in adopting."
"Really? You mean...Matthew?"
Father Mannigan smiled. "Yes. I told them about him and they're very excited."
"Wow," Faith said softly, more than a little amazed.
Bosco grinned. "That's great."
"I just thought you might like to know." The priest shook their hands before heading back up to the alter.
He stared after him for a moment, stunned by the news then turned his head to look at Faith.
She looked back at him, her blue eyes reflecting her own surprise. "That's...wow. Kinda weird, huh?"
He nodded his head. "What were the odds of that," he asked softly. "A couple at this church...lookin' for a baby."
Faith was silent for a moment. "Maybe there's a reason whoever left Matthew here chose this church. Maybe...I don't know, maybe she was...guided." Her voice was just barely a whisper.
"It's kinda like...a miracle."
A soft smile touched her lips. "Yeah. Kinda like that."
"Everything's gonna be okay now," he said softly.
"Yeah, I think you're right, Bosco." She squeezed his hand briefly, gazing at him. Then she let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around his waist in a hug.
He returned the embrace, resting his head against hers as they held each other.
Faith closed her eyes, knowing that he felt just as relieved as she did hearing the news about the little boy who'd touched both their hearts on Christmas Eve. He was right. Everything was going to be okay now.
~Fini~