Wes proposed. Amanda said yes. Lili is thrilled and so are their friends and family.
Amanda's ex-husband and his wife are less so. They already thought that three was a crowd and apparently four is entirely too many. What will they be willing to do to prevent Wes from joining their family?
Chapter 20 is now up.
Read on Ao3 or below the cut.
Their jobs never stop.
Usually, she loves the fast pace of everything.
The fact that she can be working in Poland one day, flying into France the next and on her way to Finland a few days after that was part of the draw of working with Interpol for her.
A major bonus for taking a liaison position with the FBI’s Fly Team.
None of them are particularly eager to move on right now.
Not when it means leaving their leader behind.
Wes is starting to turn the corner, albeit slowly.
The antibiotics have finally managed to bring his fever down under 101 and his vitals are reflecting the improvement.
His labs are showing improved function by all of his vital organs.
But his condition is still considered critical.
He’s still heavily sedated and reliant on a ventilator.
His dad is here of course.
Sean had started arranging a flight to Hungary the second that Amanda had called to let him know that Wes had been kidnapped.
Between making sure things were taken care of back home and the trouble to get into Hungary from the US without a definitive return date, he’d landed right about the time that the original seventy two hour deadline was reached.
Getting to France for a week or two had been much easier.
By the time they’d called to let Amanda know they had Wes, he’d already been in the air and he’d landed before the doctors had finished suturing the myriad of holes in his son.
He hasn’t left his side since.
But if they all leave, who is here to support Sean while he worries over the health of his only child?
Who makes sure that he’s eating? That he’s sleeping?
Who offers a shoulder to cry on when the stress of all of this boils over?
She comes around the corner, intent on telling Sean that they’ve been called away and offering to reach out to the FBI about sending a temporary assignment to support Andre and Riley as they start the investigation in Finland, only to find the man asleep in a recliner while a stranger (to her at least) reads to Wes from a tattered old book.
“Hello.” she says slowly.
The man pauses, looking away from the book and offering her a smile.
“Hello.” he greets, patting Wes’s hand and placing a bookmark carefully between the pages of the book. “You must be Smitty.”
She can feel her own eyes widening in shock but he just chuckles.
“Wes speaks fondly of all of you.” he says. “Says he owes you about thirty.”
“I.. had it at forty.” she says weakly.
Wes may have talked about her, about all of them, to this man but she’s fairly certain he hasn’t mentioned him to her.
“Kid’s still that reticent, not talking about his personal life, huh?” he says wryly. “You’ll get there. He jokingly calls you his ‘strict big sister’ sometimes.”
“The strict I can believe.” she chuckles.
“I’m Grant Simmons.” he says, offering her his hand. “I was Sean’s partner when he met Wes. Wasn’t sure about the kid at first but then the next thing I know I’m calling myself his godfather and he’s using my name as a middle name.”
Smitty has to smirk.
“He grows on you.” she agrees.
“Gets under your skin.” he says. “You don’t even notice it happening until he’s embedded so deep you can’t imagine your life without him.”
“That’s our Wes.” she says, looking over at the pale, drawn face behind the oxygen tubing.
“He’ll be alright.” Grant tells her. “Kid’s tough. He’s made it this far, he’s gonna be fine.”
She nods.
“What were you reading?” she asks.
“It Happened At Midnight.” he says, lifting the book. “Wes was.. behind on reading when he came to live with Sean. What happens when you go almost fourteen years with very rarely anyone willing to sit and read with you but… Sean was determined to catch him up. He spent a lot of time looking for books that Wes would actually enjoy reading and they eventually locked in on the Hardy Boys. Wes learned fast, moved on to more complicated books skillswise pretty quickly but he’s always loved those brothers. Sean used to read them to him when the nightmares were bad and he couldn’t sleep.”
She smiles.
Wes plays the details about his youth close to the chest and she gets why.
So much of what slips through has been downright horrifying.
But every time she hears something about his relationship with his adopted father she feels something inside of her soften.
Because hearing about Wes and his dad reminds her of her dad.
When she was a kid and things were easier.
Before she found out that he wasn’t her biological father and that she was the result of an affair her mother had with another member of the IRA.
He’s still her dad and she still loves him but it’s been hard talking to him ever since she found out.
But she remembers being little and having him read to her, remembers a beloved stuffed animal that he’d given her.
She’s lucky to have him. Knows that even with the distance, if it was her in that bed, her dad would be right by her side just like Sean is.
Is so glad that Wes managed to find someone like that after everything that he’d gone through.
Her phone buzzes and she glances down to see a text from Andre with their flight details.
She needs to leave.
“Shit.” she mutters. “I just came by to tell Sean that we have a case. The team is heading to Finland. I was uh, worried about leaving him alone with Wes so sick but uh, it’s good that you’re here.”
“I’ll take care of them.” he assures her. “Both of them.”
“Thank you.” she says, pocketing her phone again.
@itsdesiree86
