I'll Never Let You Freeze Without Me

Vic's POV

"For the last time Hime you are not bringing a camel into my living room." I called from the kitchen exasperated. I couldn't even tell you how we'd gotten on the topic, but I was trying hard to redirect the conversation. Flipping the bacon I could still hear Hime protesting from the living room and rolled my eyes tuning him out. I reached into the cabinet and pulled out four plates just as my cell phone rang loudly in the living room.

"Vic...unknown is calling you!" Hime called obnoxiously. I rolled my eyes and walked into the living room grabbing my phone from him.

"Thank you." I muttered sarcastically, then hit answer. "Hello?"

"Hello may I speak to Victor Fuentes please?" A cool female voice said on the other end.

"That's me, what can I do for ya?" I walked back into the kitchen and turned off the stove. With the phone balancing between my shoulder and my ear I started filling the plates with scrambled eggs.

"My name is Annie, I'm calling from the San Diego social services department. We got a call yesterday about a little girl, Wren. Her mother Ava Hunter was killed in a car accident two weeks ago, and she has you listed on the birth certificate as the father." She paused letting this sink in. "We would like her to go to you, but if you cannot support her she will be put into foster care until a family can be found. I know this is a lot to digest but I wish for Wren's sake that you would take her. The foster system is by no means perfect and many children have troubles later on." She fell silent, then the pan dropped clanging loudly on it's way to the floor as I stood frozen in front of the stove.

"Mr. Fuentes?" She questioned concerned.

After a beat I muttered a curse and picked up the pan quickly putting it back on the stove as Tony poked his head into the doorway a questioning look on his face. My hands shook, my knees shook, my entire body shook. I had a daughter? Tony was quick to tell something was going on and ushered me into a chair before sitting down to face me. "Still here." I murmured. "Uh ho-how soon can I get her?"

"Right now she's still in Florida staying in an orphanage, but we can have her on a flight in a couple of days." She said, relief clear in her voice.

"Yeah, alright. Um so do I just uh.." I trained off not sure what I was trying to ask.

"You will have to come to my office and fill out the required paperwork, then she's yours. We will pick her up and take care of all travel. I'm going to go ahead and book the flight now. Are you free in the afternoon around three on Monday?" I could hear her clicking on her keyboard in the background.

"Yeah, three, yeah." I murmured staring blankly at the tabletop.

"Alright so I will see you on Monday at three then." She said warmly.

"Yeah, see you Monday." I murmured, then she hung up. Slowly I lowered the phone setting it on the table, not moving my gaze.

"What happened?" Tony questioned quietly, so as not to attract more attention.

I slowly looked up to meet his gaze. "I'm picking up my daughter from social services on Monday." I murmured numbly.

He was silent for a moment, trying to gauge my reaction. "Want some company?"

I nodded looking back down at the table. "Please don't tell the others yet."

"My lips are sealed." He said, standing up and giving my shoulder a squeeze as he went over to the stove. He divided the bacon among all but his plate then picked up two plates. "Come on Vic, let's have breakfast."

I followed him numbly, carrying my plate and Mike's into the living room. He took his gratefully and I dropped into my favorite chair at the end of the couch, taking the fork offered to me by Tony.

"So I was thinking, since work on the new album starts soon we should probably get started writing..." I zoned out of the conversation silently picking at my eggs not really eating them. How could Ava never have told me I had a daughter? How old was she anyway? The woman, Annie had said 'little girl' but what did that mean?

"Vic!" I blinked and looked up to find everyone's eyes on me. "I said are you going to eat your bacon?" Mike questioned giving me a weird look. I held out my plate to him letting him hijack my food then set my plate on the coffee table and stood up.

"I'm gonna...I need some air." I murmured going out the sliding back door and onto the deck. I flopped down onto one of the sun chairs and closed my eyes covering my face with my hands.

"Hey you ok?" Mike as softly, perching on the chair next to me.

"Yeah, just tired." I mumbled not moving my hands.

"I know you better than that Vic, come on." He pressed.

"You'll find out Monday anyway."

"Find out what? What happened?" Mike's questions had an edge of worry.

"Just..I haven't even wrapped my own head around it yet, gimme some time to let it sink in. I'll tell everybody at dinner Monday, till then just let it be, please." I uncovered my face and met his worried gaze. He nodded, almost reluctantly and stood up. "Oh and Mike?" He turned back pausing in the doorway. "Could you tell Hime to clean his stuff out of the spare bedroom upstairs?" Mike nodded then disappeared back inside.

---

Two days and many headaches later I sat outside the large beige building with the words 'Social Services' in bold silver letters above the door. Tony occupied the passenger seat, giving me my moment before following me into the lobby. Inside was just as cookie cutter as I was expecting, beige walls, simply lifeless furniture and a huge reception desk.

"Uh hi, I have a meeting with Annie...?" I said nervously.
The woman smiled and typed something on her computer before pointing down the hall. "It's the fourth door on the right. Her name is beside the door."

"Thanks." I turned and shuffled down the hall counting the door as I passed then coming to a stop before a light wood door. The gold plaque to the right said Annie Wells in capital letters, and looked very official. With a deep breath I knocked and pushed open the door.

Seated behind a large wood desk was a woman in her thirties with red hair pulled back into a braid wearing a blue blouse and a pair of black dress pants. On the couch off to the side of the room sat a girl no older than five, with long dark hair that hung in waves. She was staring at a small stuffed dog.

"Mr. Fuentes, it's a pleasure to meet you in person. I'm Annie." The woman introduced herself and I hesitantly shook her hand, having eyes only for the girl. She turned her attention to the girl. "Wren, you remember me telling you about your father?" She asked sitting down beside the girl.

The girl nodded, not looking up. My hands started shaking and I put them in my pockets to hide my nerves, Tony offered a supportive smile and lingered by the now closed door.

"Wren this is your father, his name is Victor." Finally the girl looked up, locking eyes with me instantly. I could see her fear, her uncertainty, and hesitation. Hell she could probably see mine just as clearly, the whole world probably could.

"Hey." I smiled warmly and stepped a little closer to the couch. She glanced between me and Annie then slowly stood up and walked closer to me seeming to size me up for a moment before reaching out with one hand and taking mine tentatively. I couldn't help myself and leaned down wrapping her frail figure in my arms and lifting her. Her arms wound around my neck tightly and she buried her face in my shoulder. I could feel her tears against my skin and gave her a squeeze, leaning my head against hers.

They let us have our moment before Annie cleared her throat and I looked up to find her sitting behind her desk with a pile of papers in front of her. I sat down in one of the two chairs opposite her, Tony taking the other, and Wren resettled herself in my lap, leaning against my chest and hugging her stuffed dog.

"I just need you to read through these and sign at the bottom of each one." She went on to explain each form and I scanned them quickly before signing all of them and passing them back to her. She smiled and stood up holding out her hand to me. I rested Wren on my narrow hip and shook the woman's hand with a smile.

"Thank you." She smiled and went around her desk a black duffel bag in her hand. Tony took the bag for me and pulled open the door holding it for me as I wrapped my free arm around Wren. She rested her head on my shoulder and her arms around my neck. An indescribable warmth filled me and I couldn't keep the smile off my lips as we left the building and headed to the car. Tony opened the back door and I set Wren on the booster seat we'd managed to scrounge up last minute and buckled her in.

When we finally made it back to the house Wren had fallen asleep and it was almost dinner time. Thankfully Jamie had to cook Monday nights and he was actually a decent chef so I wasn't worried about walking in to find six boxes of pizza on the table. Tony grabbed her bag and I unbuckled her, lifting her carefully out of the car and kicking the door shut. She curled against my chest but didn't wake. She was adorable, and the closer I studied her the more easily I could see traces of me in her features. She had my big brown eyes, and Ava's dark hair.

"Whatcha got Tone?" Mike asked as we approached the living room. I still hadn't told the other two, and at that very moment I was regretting it but until the moment I saw Wren a part of me hadn't believed she really existed. Now it was undeniable, as was the fact that she was mine, and therefore my responsibility. The guys were gonna kill me, I was sure of it.

Taking a calming breath I stepped into the living room watching Mike and Hime's reactions as first confusion, then bewilderment flashed over their faces, settling on uncertainty.

"Who's that?" Mike asked softly, shooting Tony a questioning look.
"This is uh...you guys remember Ava Hunter?" I adjusted my hold on Wren and she whined softly in the back of her throat tightening her arms around my neck. Mike nodded still looking confused, meanwhile I could see the wheels turning in Hime's head and it was only a moment or two before realization settled in.

"Oh my god." He murmured his eyes wide. "She's yours."
I rolled my eyes at how eloquently he'd put it and nodded. "Yeah, this is my daughter Wren."
Mike didn't say anything for a long moment, then he stood up and came over to stand in front of me watching the sleeping girl thoughtfully then glancing up at me. "I'm allowed to spoil her right?"
I cracked a smile. "Yeah, 'course you can." He smiled and wrapped his arms around us in a hug then returned to his spot on the couch.

"Now that that's taken care of," he looked at Hime. "When will dinner be done?" Hime shot him a glare but stood up anyway and wandered into the kitchen.

"Ten minutes." He called, then banged around for a while which resulted in Wren waking up. She yawned and looked up at me with big tired brown eyes.

"Hey are you hungry?" I asked softly, brushing her hair back from her eyes as she looked around. Her gaze returned to mine and she nodded, squirming to let me know she wanted down. I let her down and as soon as she noticed Mike hid behind me, gripping my hand tightly in both of hers. I smiled and rested my hand on her back. "Wren, that's my brother, your Uncle Mike." She assessed him for a while then looked up at me questioningly. I smiled encouragingly, unfortunately Hime chose that moment to come in stopping short when he saw that Wren was up and about.

"She lives!" He said dramatically, a huge smile decorating his features. I rolled my eyes and Wren had my hand in a death grip.

"You're freaking her out Hime." I said flatly, then crouched down in front of Wren. "That's your other Uncle Hime, and that guy over there is your Uncle Tony." She looked at each of them for a long moment then latched her arms around my neck letting me lift her up again.

"That's adorable." Hime said smiling. "Dinner's ready by the way." With that Mike was off the rest of us following close behind. It wasn't too often that we actually sat at our kitchen table, but tonight there was an unspoken agreement and after all helping ourselves to some food we convened around the old wood kitchen table. Wren choose to sit in my lap instead of her chair and Tony kept shooting her little smiles.

"So Wren how's my cooking?" Hime asked about halfway through the quietest dinner we'd ever had.
"Obviously it's awful otherwise why would we make you cook four times a week?" Mike shot back sarcastically, smirking.

Hime glared at him. "I wasn't asking you Mike, I was asking the little lady over there."
Wren sunk against my chest and glanced up at me nervously. I smiled encouragingly, and she looked back to Hime.

"It's good." She said softly, a blush coloring her cheeks.
Mike burst out laughing and I glared at him. "I'm sorry, she's too cute, I just can't."

We'd spent the weekend cleaning out the spare bedroom upstairs and had pulled the extra mattress from the basement and a few scattered pieces of furniture we could find. It looked a bit mismatched but it would do for now. After dinner they' hung out in the living room half watching the news while listening to Tony fool around on his acoustic guitar trying to come up with something interesting they could use. At some point Wren had climbed into my lap and fallen asleep with her head on my chest and her stuffed dog forgotten on the floor.

"I'm callin' it a night." Hime said standing up and stretching his arms. Tony watched him go upstairs before following a few minutes later Mike and I in tow. I laid Wren out on the bed and just as I was about to leave she stirred.

"Daddy?" She mumbled starting to sit up.

"Shh, shh go back to sleep sweetie." She easily laid back down closing her eyes again. I pulled the blanket over her and kissed her on the forehead. "If you need anything my room's across the hall alright?" Her breathing evened out and I smiled, making sure the little night light worked before slipping into the hall and into my bedroom. I changed quickly into a pair of sleep pants and a black tank top then crawled into bed, asleep before my head hit the pillow.