“Shit, man, no wonder you’re so pissed,” Jaxson sympathized. “But I feel like I’m missing a big piece of the pie.”
Brenden scrubbed his face, sighing. “All right, remember a couple of years ago I had to go work on that kidnapping case with the Chicago field office?” Jaxson nodded his head. “I met Stephen while working that case. You know I’ve never struggled with my sexuality, and after my divorce with Kathie, I wasn’t interested in having a relationship.” Again, Jaxson nodded.
“Wait, was he the guy you were sleeping with?”
Brenden nodded. “When I met Stephen, we were just messing around, you know? Things weren’t supposed to get serious. And I was trying to keep it that way. I’m not going to lie, I was shocked when he broke it off. By that time it was too late. I realized I wanted to move our relationship from sleeping buddies to something more. What made it worse was we had just… you know…?” Brenden said, waving his hand around hoping that Jaxson got the point. “He tells me that it’s over and he needs to concentrate on his career and that being with me would hold him back. Also, that we both want different things in life. I didn’t see it coming, man.”
“Shit, man,” Jaxson said. “So how did you guys end up with a kid?”
“Do I need to explain the birds and the bees, man?”
“Cut the shit and talk to me.”
“Now I can see where baby girl got the word ‘sheet’ from,” Brenden said, lightening the mood a bit. But it seemed that Jaxson was not in the joking mood. “Fine,” he sighed. “From what he told me the other day, he broke it off because of something he overheard me say to another agent about not wanting kids. He’d found out he was pregnant that morning and broke it off that night.”
Jaxson said nothing for a few minutes, and Brenden was thankful for that. It gave him a chance to think about what really happened between him and Stephen. He was still pissed, but he could admit to himself, he’d been acting like a bastard on some level.
“So how do you feel being a dad? How are you getting along with your son?”
“I don’t know. It hasn’t hit me yet,” Brenden answered honestly. “Shit, I haven’t even met the kid yet. I’ve seen him, but that’s about it.”
“What the fuck, man! Why?” Jaxson balked.
“What the hell am I supposed to say? Fuck, Hoss, this is out of my league. I have no fucking idea what I’m supposed to do here.”
“Have you spoken to Stephen since he told you?”
Brenden shook his head. “I’m still mad that he kept this from me. No matter what the hell happened between us, it didn’t give him the right to keep my son away from me.”
Jaxson sighed, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Remember what you told me when I found out about Christen?”
“Please, don’t throw my words back in my face,” Brenden begged his friend.
“Sorry, buddy, no can do. Look, I know you’re pissed, and you have every right to be. You’ve had a kid out there who’s missing out on getting to know you as his dad. I’m not even going to ask you if you are in love with Stephen, that’s not for me to judge your feelings for him. But don’t let your anger stop you from getting to know your son.”
Brenden hated the fact that Jaxson was right. He’d known what he had to do for days, but remained stubborn about the entire situation. He got up from his desk and walked over to the window in his office. “I hear ya, man, and I know that I’m being a total hypocrite about this whole thing. And I really don’t know what I’m feeling for Stephen…”
“What the fuck happened now?” he heard Jaxson ask.
Brenden turned around just as Jaxson opened his office door and burst into the bullpen. “What’s up?” Jaxson asked Mayson.
“We have a hostage situation,” he responded.
“We got a call that one of our agents is involved in a hostage situation.”
“Where and with whom?” Brenden asked.
“Young, at the Sunny Oaks Apartments,” Tucker, their boss, answered coming out of his office. “I need you guys to get your ass moving. I don’t know much. We weren’t able to get a lot of information on how bad the situation got.”
“And what’s that?” Jaxson asked.
Brenden didn’t have to hear any more; he ran back to his office and grabbed the keys from off his desk. He rushed back out to the bullpen just in time to meet Jaxson by the elevator. Jaxson handed him an FBI vest. “Mayson and the rest of the tactical team will meet us there,” Jaxson told him as he fastened his. Brenden nodded his head as he felt the urgency to go and back up a fellow agent and not the father of his child. They reached the garage and ran up to the black standard SUV, throwing the keys to Jaxson, he got in on the passenger side. They were silent as they sped through traffic, he hoped that everything turned out okay because he was not ready to raise a kid on his own.
** ** ** ** **
How the fuck did I get myself into this shit?
Stephen looked around to the scared residents and kept trying to keep Lawrence Redding focused on him. He wanted no more casualties. He’d only been speaking with the Sunny Oaks Apartments, director for a few minutes about Redding’s work performance when heard shots coming from the main room. It was also where the last victim was found. While speaking with the director, he’d heard what sounded like a gun being fired. He counted four consecutive shots coming from the main room.
