missmara13

Almost at the end!

Ryan ran into the hospital room he had been directed to, and found Brooke sobbing as Katie held on to her, stroking her hair. "Brooke?" he asked softly.

"I lost the baby," Brooke replied. "I'm so sorry..."

"Oh Brooke," Ryan said, moving forward to take Katie's place comforting his wife. "It's not your fault, it's not. We knew there was a risk, we... it's... it's not your fault."

~~~

It was their third miscarriage in as many years, and they both knew they couldn't handle a fourth. So, they sat down and they talked, ultimately deciding that Ryan would get a vasectomy and Brooke would get her tubes tied to make certain there wouldn't be a fourth instance of hope and then loss.

Then, they got themselves registered as foster parents, and started applying at adoption agencies. They hadn't been contacted yet as Christmas came around, but were hopeful to hear from them soon, and were sitting down to dinner with the rest of the Bullits when Ryan's phone rang. He glanced at the screen, then looked over at Brooke and showed her the screen.

"Hey, shut up!" Brooke said. "It's the social worker!"

The conversations all cut off immediately and Ryan got up to answer it. "Hello, Mrs. Franklin," he said. "No, no, of course it's not too last minute," he said, looking over at Brooke, who had her hands to her mouth, trying not to get her hopes up. "Ok... ok, yes, abso... absolutely we can take... yes, yes... we just need to move the beds into the rooms, and you know I got lots of brothers who'll help move heavy furniture..." he looked over to see 11 of his brother nodding sharply, eagerly, only Spencer was rolling his eyes. "Yes, we ca have it ready by then... yes, yes. Ok, we'll see you then... thank you, Mrs. Franklin," Ryan said before hanging up. "Oh my God..."

"What?" Brooke asked.

"Siblings, boy and two girls, ages range from 4 to 14, emergency placement, they had to be removed from their home earlier tonight, and with it being Christmas Eve, she wanted them somewhere safe and loving right away."

"Tonight?"

"She said it'll take about two hours to process everything and get here with them," Ryan said.

"Ok, Maria, sweetheart," Bullit began to his housekeeper.

"I'll get some food packed up to feed everyone helping at their place," Maria said, giving Ryan and Brooke hugs as she hurried past.

"We were gonna have a collection of toys," Brooke said. "We haven't bought any yet..."

"Brooke, babe, take it from me, being in a safe home is enough for tonight," Ryan told her before giving a kiss. "And this is a first step. Even if they only stay a few days, once we've handled an emergency placement, we go higher on the list for more permanent placements," he added.

"Right," Brooke said. "We don't have enough room for everyone to help us get the rooms set up," she added, not wanting anyone to feel rejected.

"Hanoi and Katie should go," Lubbock said. "They got more kids than the rest of us combined, if anyone can get a couple rooms ready lickety split, it's them."

The other brothers quickly nodded in agreement. "Alright, you two go ahead, Katie and I'll wait for Maria to bring the packed food then we'll be right there," Hanoi said.

As soon as Ryan and Brooke were out the door, Katie spun to them. "This kids need presents, so who's going into the city for some very last minute Christmas shopping?"

~~~

The rooms were fairly generic, the two girls, ages 4 and 9, sharing a room, and the 14 year-old boy with his own right next door. They'd long since painted the rooms bright and cheerful colors, but they added twin beds to each room, one with a guard rail for the four year old, and dressers, and bedding in neutral colors, and the laptop that Ryan and Brooke had kept in the living room for their nephews and nieces to play games on when they babysat went into the boy's room.

"You guys are ready for this," Hanoi said as they got ready to leave. "You are amazing with our kids, and will be amazing with these kids, and someday with the kids who become yours forever."

"Just remember, all parents fail on occasion. Just do the best you can, and be yourselves," Katie added.

"I love you guys," Brooke said, giving them both hugs.

"My favorite sister-in-law strikes again," Ryan said, giving Katie a kiss on the cheek.

~~~

Around a half hour after Hanoi and Katie left, Ryan and Brooke head a car in their drive and got up to hurry outside. "Mrs. Franklin, good to see you," Ryan said as she got out of the car.

"Good to see both of you, too," Mrs. Franklin said with a smile as she approached. "I wanted to speak with you a moment before the kids get out," she added.

"Ok," Ryan said.

"Is something... wrong?" Brooke asked.

"No," Mrs. Franklin said. "I know the two of you will be very good for these kids."

"I'm sorry, I'm just..." Brooke said.

"It's ok," Mrs. Franklin said with a smile. "You just need to do your best to let them feel safe and secure. I had to remove them from their parents home this evening, they... both parents have drug and alcohol issues, and there was some serious abuse issues. So they need to feel safe, they need to know that no one will yell at them or hit them... that's why I thought of the two of you."

"You know my family can be kinda..." Ryan began.

"I think it could be good for them to see a loud family that also loves each other unconditionally," Mrs. Franklin said. "Now, are you guys ready to meet them?"

"Yes," Brooke said, taking Ryan's hand as they followed Mrs. Franklin towards the car.

The boy got out first, turning to pick up the four year-old, while the nine year-old held on to his sleeve.

"Hi, guys," Ryan said. "I'm Ryan, this is Brooke... welcome home."

"For now," the boy said.

"Robbie, give them a chance," Mrs. Franklin said. "This is Robbie, and little Grace in his arms, and this is Allison," she introduced. "Ryan and Brooke are very nice, and you can't tell right now in the dark, but this is a ranch, with horses, and cattle, and... and..."

"A heated swimming pool," Brooke said, finding her voice. "And if you guys like movies, we have a decent sized home theater in our house, but Ryan's dad's house is right over there and has a whole little mini-movie theater," she added.

"The Mansion we passed?" Robbie asked, skeptical. "Like they'd want us in there."

"Kid, I have a juvie record for grand theft auto and my Dad still adopted me when I was just a little older than you," Ryan said. "And he already had twelve sons."

"Twelve?" Grace asked.

"Twelve," Ryan repeated, nodding. "Let me tell you, you're lucky to just have one big brother. Twelve of them are... not as much fun as you'd think."

"You guys wanna see your rooms?" Brooke asked.

The girls nodded and Robbie shrugged with one shoulder, so Mrs. Franklin passed Ryan the three backpacks. "Try to be good for the Bullits, okay?" she told the kids.

~~~

The kids seemed to like their rooms, but were exhausted so after a quick dinner of food Maria had sent home with Ryan and Brooke, the kids went to bed. Ryan wasn't too surprised to notice when he went upstairs a little later that the door for the girls room was open and Robbie was sitting on the floor between the beds, reading a bedtime story to them. Ryan lurked in the hall as Robbie finished, and heard him telling the girls that it was okay, he'd sleep right there between their beds and keep them safe he just needed to change for bed and he;d be right back.

By the time Robbie stepped out of his own room after changing, Ryan was waiting with a pillow, blankets and a sleeping bag for cushioning. "My biological brother used to sleep on the floor next to my bed after... after our father, or one of our mother's boyfriends got mad at one or both of us. At least be vaguely comfortable while being a good big brother," he said, offering them.

"You're not gonna tell me I have to sleep in the other room?" Robbie said as he took the stack.

Ryan shrugged. "Eh, easier to make sure you aren't robbing us blind if we only have to look one place," he said.

Robbie actually cracked a smile, small and fleeting, but a smile.

End