7 Hours Earlier…
Detective Cross couldn't sleep well that night. He twisted and turned in bed the whole night, which annoyed Maya, so he got out of bed. His wife and son were peacefully asleep, but he couldn't rest at all. In the backyard, he laid his back on a lounge chair at the poolside with a can of beer in his hand and a six-pack of beer on the side table.
Sigh! What did his mom mean when she asked if he was doing it because of the case or was it for other reasons? If it was for other reasons, then…
The image of Ares's figure came to mind.
Wait, why did he think of her all of a sudden? He admits his mom was right when she said that he was acting unlike himself lately.
He worked on cases similar to Ares's except he was never this attached to the previous kids compared to Ares. When the thought of Ares being harmed comes to mind, he can't help but seethe in anger. It felt like his heart was being squeezed and left to bleed out.
He unconventionally cares for her...that he acknowledges. However, he doesn't understand exactly why he does. He stayed up until the break of dawn with litters of beer cans on the ground.
The ground was wet from light moisture and the morning air was cold and heavy, so Detective Cross quickly took a warm shower. The steam that was built up inside the bathroom poured out the second he opened the bathroom.
"You didn't come back to bed this morning. What's bothering you?" A tender and concerned voice came from behind. Detective Cross was all too familiar with this voice.
The voice belonged to his wife, Maya.
He felt her arms encase his waist from behind. He stood half-naked in front of the dresser with only a white towel wrapped around his waist. Wisps of water dripped down his body, but Maya didn't mind and tightly wrapped her arms around his waist.
The warmth from her body radiated off of her body, warming him. It felt comfortable that he spilled his worries to her, "Ares's case...do you also think I've become obsessed with it?"
"I don't think so, I know you're obsessed. But not to the case," Maya spoke softly, the corners of her lips slightly raised.
"Oh?" Detective Cross turned to face her with a questioning look.
"Sometimes you could be so blind to what's right in front of you," Maya tilted her head up, flashing a teasing smile at him.
Her hand reached out to caress his left cheek and continued, "You may not be able to see it, but I do. The way you look at Ares, it's the same look you made when you first held Elias the day he was born."
What?!
Detective Cross was shocked. He looked at Ares the same way when he first held Elias the day he was born? Didn't that mean that he holds Ares in the same place as Elias in his heart? Impossible!
"You're saying that I care for Ares as a father?" Detective Cross looked down on Maya's face with a dumbfounded expression.
"Don't think that the idea of you caring for Ares like a father is absurd. Take your time to think about your feelings. I'll wait until you know what those feelings are," was what Maya said before leaving.
With Maya gone, he was left alone in the room, immersed in his thoughts once again. Ares…as his daughter?
As an only child, he always dreamt of having a big family of his own. The image of a nice family home with a big backyard where he, his wife, and four kids were spending quality time together was the life he wanted.
But after giving birth to Elias, the doctor came up to them and explained how it would be nearly impossible for them to have another child so that dream went up in smoke.
He had already lost count of how many times they failed to get pregnant, and he noticed the strain it caused to both him and his wife's hearts.
Painfully, they gave up their desire to have another child and focused their all on Elias.
However, the sudden appearance of Ares was like a stone falling into still waters, creating irreversible ripples in their lives.
At that moment a vision of Ares running to him with a radiant smile on her face, giving her a healthy glow, and she spoke the most simple word in the most heart-capturing voice, "Daddy!"
Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
The racing beat of his heart pulsated under his fingertips and it was like time had stopped. If a vision of Ares calling him 'daddy' felt this good, imagine how blissful it would be to hear it in person.
"Dad?" Elias's figure stood at the doorway of the bedroom. The mere sound of his voice brought Detective Cross back to reality.
At the sight of Elias, he quickly attempted to hide the awkward expression etched on his face.
However, it didn't escape Elias's notice. He had been standing at the doorway long enough to see the helpless and confused look on his father's face.
If he hadn't seen it in person, he would have never believed it. He's never seen him make a look like that in his entire life and he wanted to understand what exactly could turn his steely father into this distressing condition. But he couldn't bring himself to ask him.
"Ahem! What is it?" Detective Cross asked.
"Uncle Liam just called, saying to pick up your phone," Elias said.
"Have you seen my phone?"
Detective Cross rummaged through the room, but he caught no sight of his cell phone.
"Here," Elias tossed his phone over. "You left it at the poolside."
"I don't know what I would do without you." Detective Cross said before looking down at the phone in his hand and noticed the various numbers of missed calls and unread messages and all of it was from one person, his partner, Liam Chase.
To receive this many missed calls and messages was unsettling. Without a second more, he called him.
It didn't take long for the other end to pick up and Detective Cross quickly questioned, perturbed, "Why'd you call?"
"You need to get to the hospital now!" Liam said with great urgency.
"Why? Did something happen?" The unsettling feeling he felt earlier grew but he continued to maintain composure.
"Child Protection is going to take Ares away."
Boom! An explosion went off in his mind when he heard those words.
"What…did you just say?" He asked, unsure if he heard it right the first time.
"Captain had the case closed and is now at the hospital handing Ares over to Child Protection. She's going into the system." Liam fully explained readily.
When Liam confirmed, Detective Cross went stiff.
Originally, he expected to have more time to figure out his feelings, but it was the exact opposite.
The thought of someone taking Ares away from him caused his heart to drop to the pit of his stomach, and, for the first time in a long time, his face showed signs of fear.
"Thank you for letting me know!" Detective Cross voiced his gratitude before rushing to put on a random pair of grey sweats and a white tank top without care of how he looked.
Elias watched the whole thing with wide eyes. Why does he look anxious? Just what in the world did Uncle Liam say to make his dad like this?
Seeing him like this, Elias felt strange and confused which made him all the more ill at ease.
"Dad, what's going on? What did Uncle Liam say?"
Detective Cross didn't hear a word he said but was rather too occupied. The only thing on his mind was to get to the hospital.
"We need to get to the hospital!" Detective Cross answered his son vaguely.
Elias didn't question him and quietly followed him.
It didn't take long for them to arrive at the hospital despite the busy traffic and it was all thanks to the police siren he had blaring and his crazy driving skills. He set the car to park before sprinting to Ares's room not even noticing his son running to catch up to him from behind.
Huff huff huff! How can someone his age run so fast?! Isn't he in his late-thirties or something? What should he do?
It seems like he needs to start working out. If he doesn't his old man just might outlive him. He ran as fast as he could to catch up to his father.
"I've been telling you for weeks now to close the case, but you continued to simply brush it off. I gave you and Chase an order to close the case yesterday but you both disregarded my orders and went behind my back. Do the two of you think I'm a joke!"
Elias heard loud commotions coming from inside the room when he arrived in front of Ares's room. He wasn't familiar with that voice but the next voice he was familiar with. It was his father, and he didn't sound all too happy.
"That's right! I think you're a joke. I won't let you take her away."
"Cross! As your Commanding Officer, I order you to stand down and let these people do their job! If you continue to defy my orders, I will have no choice but to expel you."
"As one of your detectives, I will follow your orders. No questions asked," Detective Cross easily spoke those words like it was something natural.
Even the Captain was shocked to hear those words coming out of the mouth of his most troublesome detective in his precinct.
Did the sunrise in the west? Did he finally go insane? But looking at how serious he looked when he said those words, he appears to be sincere about it. Is he finally going to start listening to his superiors?
But it was only his wishful thinking because Detective Cross still had more to say.
"However, as her legal guardian, I have no choice but to go against your orders," he continued.
"I think I heard wrong. Whose legal Guardian?" The Captain pressed his glabella, feeling a slight headache coming on.
"Her legal guardian...I decided to adopt Ares!"
He heard it correctly this time. But it didn't help and only made his face turn grimmer. Detective Cross didn't seem to notice the change in his mood when his voice rang again, only more resolute.
"I'm adopting Ares so there's no need for you to take her away!"
He had thought it over so many times that he can't remember but he still didn't have an answer. So, when Chase told him that Ares was going to be taken away and put into the system, it felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. How could he not know what Ares meant to him after experiencing that?
When those words came out, the Captain finally understood why he was obedient at first. Does he want him to die from frustration? Sigh! Maybe he should just retire.
The room fell into a brief silence and their "exchange of words" was caught in a stalemate.
The Child Protection services noticed that their presence was not needed and unwanted, so they bid their goodbyes before turning to leave.
While the three people outside of Ares's room, Elias, Montreal, and Blake, stood root to the ground without taking a step. Montreal and Blake both felt that it wasn't the best time to carry out their questioning, so they quietly watched the scene from the side and mentally applauded Detective Cross.
Just how big was his gut for him to be able to talk back to his boss?
Whereas Elias looked fixedly at his father, shocked beyond imagination. After some time when he fully digested the big news, his father just dropped, his expression lit up like the 4th of July.
The past two days he spent with Ares were the happiest he's ever felt. Don't get him wrong, he has a happy life surrounded by friends and family that love him.
But something was missing.
It was only when he met and got to know Ares did he figure out his burning desire to have a younger sibling and he specifically wanted Ares as his little sister.
Ever since the incident at the mall, he felt a strong urge to protect Ares and what better way to do that than to become her brother.
Not too far from Detective Cross, Ares stood at the side, silently listening with a dull expression. There was no noticeable change in her expression but if you were to look closely, you could see a small crack in her expression where her eyes were filled with surprise.
How could she not be shocked? She knew that Detective Cross has tendencies to grow attached to cases involving child abuse but in none of those cases did he end up adopting the kid. So, why was he adopting her?
Although Ares knew everything there's to know about Detective Cross, she didn't know when he started caring for her as a father.
She had always thought that she would be alone in this world with no one by her side. When she was carried out of the house that night, she had promised herself that she won't rely on anyone.
That's what she promised not to do, but why does she want to do the exact opposite and rely on Detective Cross.
Looking at the source of her conflict, she couldn't help but stare blankly. He was just a normal, weak man but how was it that in her eyes he looked like he could carry the world on his shoulders.
"You've finally done it, Cross. You've finally gone insane," said the Captain looking at him as if he was looking at a mental patient. "Did your wife even agree with your decision to adopt Ares?"
At the mention of his wife, Detective Cross flinched and did not know how to reply. He wanted to adopt Ares but that was "his" decision not him and his wife.
In the next moment, a smooth feathery sounding voice that was impossible not to hear resonated from the doorway, "Of course she agrees. Why wouldn't she?"
Detective Cross's face brightened up and looked in the direction of the voice with a loving smile, "Weren't you supposed to be at work?"
Leaning against the frame of the doorway, Maya flashed a knowing smile at Detective Cross, "I drove here as fast as I could using the spare siren you left in my car. I can't possibly let my husband bring home our daughter without me present."
"Since my wife supports my decision, we will be taking Ares home now." Detective Cross was on cloud nine. The feeling was too blissful.
The Captain on the other hand couldn't take the throbbing headache, caused by none other than Detective Cross, so he left after whispering a few words to Detective Cross in secret.
With the Captain gone, Ares, Detective, and his family were finally alone. Ares, severely shocked by what she heard, sat at the edge of the hospital bed with her eyes glued to the floor not aware of the three people-Detective Cross, Maya, and Elias-standing right in front of her.
"Ares?" Detective Cross took her hand, squatting in front of her.
"Mmm?" Ares's eyes met Detective Cross's, gazing at her with a tender look.
"What do you think about coming home with us?" He blurted out the words that had been on his mind since he arrived.
Stunned, Ares couldn't answer him right away. She glanced at Detective Cross looking at her with uneasiness. Obviously, nervous to hear her answer.
But, why?
She never had anyone care for her. Since birth, all she received up until a few weeks ago was torment.
Detective Cross and his family were among the first people who didn't want to cut her open or inflict any pain. She doesn't know what happiness and fear feel like. Even being sad. But what she does know is the feeling of security when she's with them.
"You want to adopt me? Why?" Ares was curious to know.
"How could I not when you're so lovely?" He reached out to gently stroke cheek.
Electricity coursed through Ares's body at Detective Cross's touch. There was only love in his eyes and she couldn't help but want to jump into his arms.
Maya saw from the side the confusion on her face and spoke up without faltering, "Did you think we would let you go so easily after seizing our hearts?"
"We're never going to let you go. You're stuck with us whether you like it or not," Elias said domineeringly, his hand placed on either side of his hips.
Ares didn't feel the arrogance in his words. It was the exact opposite. She felt nothing but warmth.
"What's your answer?" Detective Cross went to stand next to Maya and Elias, patiently waiting for her response.
Ares couldn't help but stare at their smiling faces.
"Ca-"
"AHEM!" The sound of someone clearing his throat interrupted.