Begging You

*Patrick*

His palms were sweaty as he pressed the button to his floor. A million scenarios ran through his head. Patrick was choking on the stress. Was it really his kid? If it wasn’t, what was he going to do? How would he handle that. He nearly burst into tears again at the thought that he’d been so stupid to get someone pregnant.

The last ding of the elevator sounded like a death sentence. Working in autopilot, he jammed his key in the door and walked into his apartment. He could see Ryan pacing in the living room. The poor kid was probably panicking too.

When he rounded the corner, he nearly fainted. Scarlet sat on the couch, cradling a little blue bundle. All of a sudden, it all became too real. She looked up at him, pity in her eyes. Again, he was angered. Why did she have this affect on him? Why was she even there?

“What are you doing here?” he muttered. Patrick didn’t even register Ryan punching him roughly in the arm.

Scarlet only raised a brow and stood up, bundle in her arms and all. She walked up to him until she was less than a foot away. “I can leave you here with this baby if you want.” Her arms extended to hand him the baby. Patrick jumped so far back he nearly smacked the chair he’d been standing in front of. “That’s what I thought.”

He watched as she sauntered back on the couch. Patrick diverted his attention to Ryan. “What happened?” The rookie looked like a mess. Huge dark bag were under his eyes, he looked pale and stressed. For once, he looked older than his nineteen years. As if suddenly too tired, Ryan fell into the couch.

“There was a knock on the door. I answered it and he was on the floor.” He pointed to the bundle in Scarlet’s arms. “Pat, what if I had just ignored it?” Panic ran through his voice, so many emotions someone as young as him shouldn’t be feeling. Patrick waited for a moment for him to get his thoughts together. “I brought him inside. Called you. Callie called me, told me Scar was coming. She got here but the baby’s been sleeping the entire night.”

“Patrick, there was a note and documents.” Scarlet quietly added. She handed him a tiny scrap of paper and a huge folder of papers. When he read the note, his stomach dropped. His vision flashed red.

How could Kennedy have done this to him? She left him, obviously before she knew, but couldn’t she have told him when she realized she was pregnant. Why the hell hadn’t she told him before? Where was she now? Why did she do this?

Patrick felt tears slip from his eyes. No doubt, this was his kid. The timing was too perfect. He didn’t need to look at the birth certificate to know that the baby was practically a newborn, only a month or two old. But he needed to know something, Pat opened the folder and looked at the first line of a birth certificate, his son’s birth certificate.
His name was Brennan Patrick Kane.

*Scarlet*

Scarlet watched Patrick soak it all in. She saw the tiny tears that dripped from his eyes. They were all silent, wondering the same question. The sun was staring to rise in the huge wall to floor windows. The tiny baby, who Ryan and her had discovered was names Brennan, wiggled in her arms.

“He’s waking up.” She murmured. Patrick’s head snapped up to look at her so quickly, she was worried he might suffer whip lash. His eyes were wide and scared, it was like he was begging her to do something to make the situation disappear. Right then, if she could, she would’ve.

“What are you going to do?” Ryan asked.

For a moment, Patrick didn’t know how to answer, his mouth was open agape. “We’ll have to get this sorted out with lawyers. Find fucking Kennedy.” Scarlet assumed that was the mysterious K. “And… he’s going to need stuff right?”He looked to her, she just nodded. “We’ll get him stuff and I… I don’t know.”

Brennan started making little whiney cries. Not loud and obnoxious but soft and sad. She motioned for Ryan to hand her one of the bottles in the bag. They all watched as the tiny baby suckled of the bottle. Scarlet soothed him and cradled him in her arms. All three of them heard his tiny sigh.

“Scarlet…” Patrick started. No, no, she told herself. He was going to ask her to help, as her to stay. She could feel it. No way could she do that, she had a career to start, granted she hadn’t gotten a job yet, but she couldn’t do this. “Please, stay, help.”

The plea choked her. She felt so bad but she couldn’t. “Patrick… I can’t that’s not a good idea.” She murmured. In a move that surprised her, he dropped to his knees on the floor next to her feet. His big blue eyes begged her.

“I’m begging you. I will give you whatever you want, pay you whatever. Please. You’re so good at this. You want to do this, you wanted to work with kids. Just please.” He begged.

“You can find someone else who would do it just as well.” She told him. Her resolve was melting at each look of his eyes.

“But no one I can actually trust.” He paused and suddenly looked regretful. “I feel terrible for what I said that day.” Scarlet believed him, the sorrow and remorse in his eyes said it all. “You, Callie trusts you, so I trust you. You could have not shown up. I assume you knew. Just please. Just until I have it figured. I’m begging you, please, please help me.”

What was she going to do? She wanted to help, but she wanted to live her life and be a success. Scar thought about how she’d been applying for a job as a pediatric assistant, about how the lack of responses were taking a strain on her. This could be an opportunity, one for her and one that helped the poor baby boy.

With her last ounce of energy, she nodded. Patrick looked so grateful, tears fell from his pretty blue eyes. “Thank you so much.” He murmured. She watched as he stood and towered over her, wiping tears from his eyes. “You can even have weekends off.” All three of them chuckled.

Scarlet had an idea that the next couple months would be a ride, how they all reacted would be anyone’s guess. All she knew, is that they had to bring it together. A little boy depended on it.