Immediate Family

Series: Scenes from an Italian Restaurant

Title: Immediate Family

Author: Carla

Rating: PG

Disclaimers: Touchstone Television owns ‘em. I just play with ‘em. No profit made no harm intended. The original character of Victoria “Tory” Langdon is mine and mine alone.

Archiving: Okay to the Realm all others please ask. All of my delusional flights of fancy can be found at http://www.realmoftheshadow.com/carla.htm

A/N: #1 I recommend reading the installments leading up to this one first but for those of you who choose not to here’s a brief rundown.

In Never, Never it was revealed that Lily and Josh were no longer a couple, Josh and SD were. Before they broke up Lily and Josh had a threesome with SD. Lily is pregnant and not sure who the father is.

In Dear Eloise Lily and Tory are roommates. Tory is Lily’s Lamaze coach. She is in love with Lily but Lily is not in love with her. After the baby is born they reaffirm they’re commitment to the family they have created.

A/N: #2 I would also recommend reading The Virtue of Patience after you read this fic.

I’d love to know what you think. Feedback the good the bad and the ugly can be sent to me either on list or directly tocmfloresfd@yahoo.com

“Tory?” Lily felt around on the wall for the light switch, “Tory!” she found the switch and flipped the lights on.

Tory woke up instantly, sitting bolt upright and reaching blindly for her glasses on the bedside table. “What’s the matter? Is it time?” The auburn haired woman finally found her glasses and slipped them on.

“It’s time alright. I think my water broke. Either that or my bladder burst.”

Tory leapt out of bed, shedding her sleep shirt as she made her way to her closet, she yanked the closet door open and began to dress in the outfit she already had hanging on the door for this very moment. Lily watched her with a slightly bemused expression, she wondered if Tory even noticed that the shirt she was struggling to button was inside out.

“You’re not due for another two weeks, the bag’s ready in the hall closet. Do you need help getting down the stairs?”

“I need help getting dressed I am not leaving this house looking like I pissed myself.”

“Okay, right. Sweatpants right?”

“Yeah,” Lily held out a pair of clean sweats. “Help me get into these.”

Ten minutes later they were on their way to the hospital. An hour later Lily was ensconced in a birthing suite and Tory was on the phone alerting family and friends. First Lily’s mother who, though she disapproved of Lily’s decision to keep the baby, would surely want to be there when her grandchild was born. Then Sam and Marcy in New York City and Carmen and Nicole in Cobleskill, lastly she called Josh and Michael, she refused to call him Sugar Daddy, in Washington.

The phone ringing woke SD who hurriedly snatched the phone off the receiver, “Speak.”

“Josh?” the voice was female and that got SD’s attention more than anything.

“Tory?”

“Michael?”

“Yeah. Is everything okay?” Tory heard him call excitedly for Josh and then he was babbling excitedly in her ear again. “Is it time or did she have it already? We can skip out on classes today and tomorrow. Coach knows that this was coming down the pike so practice isn’t a problem. If we leave now we…” Tory interrupted him.

“You don’t have to do that,” she heard Josh in the background echoing her sentiment. Lord but he was an odious little shit, what had Lily ever seen in him, she wondered. “If you came down this weekend that would be fine.”

“Don’t be silly. The airport is about an hour and a half away. I’m not sure about the flights out but figure late tonight or early tomorrow.”

“If you need help…”

“No my mom said she’d pay for the ticket and I have her credit card.”

“Okay then I should get back to her.”

“Tory?”

“Yeah”

“Every thing’s alright, she’s okay…the baby. I thought she wasn’t due for another two or three weeks that’s what I had on the calendar.”

“What can I say Michael; babies come when they will." She sighed heavily, “Is Josh coming too?”

“Hold on.” She heard muffled voices and then he was back, “I don’t think so.”

“Why is he being like this? She…it’s probably his he should…she asked for him.” Her voice caught and SD thought perhaps she was crying as well. Of them all he felt sorriest for Tory who loved Lily totally and unconditionally. He could not imagine how much it must have hurt her to have Lily ask for Josh. Especially given his total lack of interest in Lily’s pregnancy and the baby, in the face of her own devotion to mother and child.

“I’ll make sure he’s there.”

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

“I don’t understand how you can be so excited Shug.”

They were in the hospital cafeteria having a quick bite before heading up to see Lily and the baby. When they’d landed at LAX SD had immediately called Tory on her cell to get an update. The baby, a boy, had been born only a few hours earlier weighing in at 7 pounds 14 ounces and measuring 17.5 inches in length, was healthy and strong.

“I don’t understand how you can not excited about this. That little boy is probably yours you know. Your son, Josh how can you not…”

“I don’t want my father’s life,” Josh interjected. “I don’t want to be trapped like that. Besides it could be yours. It should be yours if there’s any justice in this world it will be.”

“He, Josh, not it, he. Victor, Lily told me the last time we talked that she was going to name the baby Victor if it was a boy, Victoria if it was a girl.”

“Well why not Tory’s been a better man than either of us.”

“Speak for yourself Josh. Who was it that went with her to all her appointments till we left for school, hmmm? Not you. At any rate I think it’s great, Tory’s the one that’s been there all along.”

“And what, “ Josh’s voice began to rise belligerently, “we were supposed to put our lives on hold because Lily got knocked up and decided she had to have the baby. I’ll say it again: I don’t want to be Daddy. You might want to be but I don’t. If he’s mine I’ll take care of him financially but that’s it. You want to do the whole “Daddy” thing then more power to you but leave me out of it and don’t try to guilt trip me about it okay.”

“I hope this is my son, Josh, but if he isn’t it doesn’t matter. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, if he’s yours I’m still willing to claim him as mine. Give him my name and everything.”

“Why?” Why would you even want to do that?”

“Because this may be my only chance Josh.”

“What are you talking about, your only chance…don’t be ridiculous. Girls love you SD, you’ve got that whole teddy bear thing going on. There’ll be other chances, other girls. Look at Exquisite.”

“Exquisite was a freak and that’s beside the point,” SD began gathering their garbage on his tray. “It’s not like I’m going to be out there looking to date a girl and I don’t think science has yet figured out how a guy can carry a baby.”

“Lets just go see Lily and get this over with.”

“Fine.”

Lily had just finished nursing when a gentle tap on the door alerted her as to her visitors.

“Come in,” she shifted the baby in her arms and sat a little further up on the bed. The door opened to reveal Josh and SD with Tory behind them. They’d run into her in the elevator. “Josh, Michael finally. What did you get?” she asked Tory who was carrying a take out container from the Chinese place across the street. “I’m starving. What took you guys so long?”

“We had a layover in Seattle,” Josh offered by way of explanation.

“And a bite to eat in the cafeteria downstairs,” SD leaned over the bed to kiss Lily and gaze in adoration at the baby while Josh, Lily noticed, simply stood over by the door. “Can I hold him?” SD gently stroked the baby’s cheek, his hand looked impossibly huge next to the newborn’s head. “Look Josh he’s beautiful.” Lily placed the baby in his arms and he began gingerly swaying back and forth rocking the child in his arms as he cooed down at him. “Hi little one. Aren’t you a handsome fella. It’s so good to meet you we’ve been waiting so long.”

Now that Lily’s hands were empty Tory passed her the Chinese takeout container, “I got you tofu and string beans in oyster sauce.” The auburn haired woman rolled the portable bed stand over so that Lily could use it as a table.

“Yum you having any? Or did you sneak some cow while you were downstairs?”

“Guilty as charged but I’ll have some anyway,” Tory sat down on the edge of the bed near Lily.

Meanwhile SD took the baby over to Josh who still had not moved from his spot by the door. “Isn’t he cute Joshie?”

“He’s hairy that’s for sure.”

“Wanna hold him?”

“No.”

“Don’t be scared you wont break him.”

“I’m not scared I just don’t want to hold him.”

“Okay more time for me then,” the gentle giant sat in the rocking chair by the window. “What’s his name Lily?”

“Victor,” the new mother said in between bites of tofu. “I haven’t figured out the whole middle name thing yet. Whichever one of you turns out to be his father I guess is what his middle name will be.”

For the first time Josh spoke without being addressed directly, “Yeah about how long is that going to take?”

“The nurse,” Tory offered, “said that the genetics department is open till seven. They can take the sample there and have the results back in a day or two.”

“Where is that?” Lily heard the eagerness in his voice and began to cry. It hurt her to hear how much he did not want Victor to be his, it was as if Josh were somehow saying that the entire year plus of their relationship had meant nothing to him at all.

“What’s your blood type Josh? Michael?” Tory asked.

“B positive” SD volunteered.

“A negative. Why?”

“Victor’s is B positive. So is Lily.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, if memory serves, that it’s unlikely Victor is your child.”

Josh let out a whoop that woke the sleeping newborn who promptly, vocally protested the interruption of his nap. “Sorry” he had the grace to look chagrinned at his behavior. “We should have the test done anyways to make sure.”

“I don’t need it really. Lily you can put my name on the certificate.” SD returned to fawning over the baby, “Hey big boy it’s me your daddy. He’s got a lot of hair…I think he has my nose.”

“So now the name really fits big guy,” Josh said affectionately. “Sugar Daddy Bernadino” Josh finally moved from his post by the door, going to stand behind the rocking chair so that he could look at the baby. He clapped his lover on the shoulder and was surprised when his hand was shrugged off. “Shug…” his voice trailed off in confusion.

The exchange did not go unnoticed by Tory. Or Lily, who had been watching Josh intently for any sign that perhaps he was beginning to regret his behavior in the final weeks and days of their relationship and in the time since she’d told them both that she was pregnant.

Sugar rose from the rocking chair slowly so as not to jostle Victor who was sleeping once again. It was two steps from the rocking chair, by the window, to the bed where Tory sat next to Lily. He took his time, humming softly to the baby as he made his way to the bed and sat down between the two women. The baby gurgled and the three of them were instantly enthralled, all their attention focused on the child in SD’s arms

“Victor Michael Esposito. What do you think is that your name Baby?”

“Victor Michael,” Tory said pensively. “I like…strong confident. I like it. Michael?”

“Me too.”

“Me three,” Josh chimed in from the rocking chair where he now sat. Three pairs of eyes stared at him and it occurred to him that his input was neither needed nor appreciated at the moment. He watched the three of them coo and fuss over Victor and for the first time in his life Joshua Ford felt like the proverbial outsider looking in.