First, let me say how sorry I am for the insane delay in this chapter. My life has been rather crazy these last few months (isn't that always my excuse right now?). I'm going to try my best now to update at least one of my fics every week/week and a half. If there's any other fics of mine that you're waiting an updating for, then please let me know in a review. I know I hate it myself when authors leave their pieces abandoned for ages (which is literally the pot calling the kettle black!), so I'm really going to try and update everything in the coming weeks.

Chapter 2 - Eliza

Rusty hovered at the living room door, cursing the distance between it and the kitchen table where his adoptive mother and her fiancée currently sat. They were speaking in low voices, clearly thinking he was still asleep, and the sound of the washing machine in the background only further helped to drown out their voices. Sharon had no doubt already come to her decision by now. Could he accept her decision if it was to allow his sister to go into foster care? No, this was Sharon Raydor he was talking about, she would never let that happened. At least, he hoped. Pulling his grey washout hoodie tighter around him, he pushed the door open the rest of the way before venturing into the living room, his footsteps announcing his arrival.

"Good morning, Rusty" Sharon greeted, while Andy looked up from his scrambled eggs to nod his head in acknowledgment of the younger man. They seemed content and well, in fact, the scene before him could have been mistaken for any other Saturday morning in the current Raydor-Flynn household. Sharon had clearly come to her decision. "Why don't you sit down, Rusty?" Andy suggested, already stepping away from the table and towards the stove, "I'll plate you some breakfast". Rusty sat himself down in his usual seat on Sharon's right hand side, flashing the woman a look of concern before Andy placed his breakfast in front of him.

Sharon waited until Andy had taken his seat before she started speaking, "I spoke to Cynthia this morning," She announced, watching as Rusty sat up straighter on his seat at the mention of his former Child Protection Officer. "As I'm still listed for emergency foster care, she's working on the paper work this morning and has asked us to meet her at the hospital at noon." The look of relief on Rusty's face was enough to assure Sharon that she had made the right decision. "That's brilliant!" He insisted, the corners of his lips curling up in a smile as the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders. He never should have doubted her. "You can take her out of the hospital today?" Rusty asked, his breakfast already forgotten about as he dug through his pyjama pockets to retrieve his phone. He didn't want his sister spending a minute more alone in the world than she absolutely had to. "By the sounds of it yes. Cynthia had already carried out a home survey before you moved in, and given the circumstances, she said she could come back for a follow up and carry out her checks in the next day or two" Sharon explained, knowing that part of the reason for allowing them to take the baby so soon was simply because her space was needed in the over occupied maternity ward.

"We'll need to leave here soon though - we don't even have a car seat to bring her home in," Andy reminded them both, taking a quick glance at the clock to remind them that they had less than three hours to sort out everything they needed before they were expected to meet Cynthia at the hospital. Babies were anything but cheap, and Rusty couldn't help sense a nagging feeling of guilt starting to form in the pits of his stomach. Sharon and Andy shouldn't have to take on the cost of a baby on top of the wedding and trying to find a new house. "I didn't even think about that..." Rusty hesitated, knowing he didn't have much in his savings, which he had intended to keep to help with applying to law school, or for getting a place with Gus further down the line. "Don't worry about it" Sharon insisted, leaning forward to take her son's hand in her own, "we've got it." She assured him, glancing at the clock before getting up to finishing putting on her makeup, leaving the two men alone at the table.

Rusty waited until the door had shut behind his mother before he turned to look at the woman's fiancée, "I hate that I've put you both in this position," He confessed, feeling more comfortable voicing his fears to his future stepfather than to his adoptive mother. "If it wasn't for me, Sharon's life would be a lot simpler" Rusty announced, shaking his head as he folded his arms. All Sharon should be worrying about now was what type of cake she wanted to serve at her wedding, not preparing herself to raise yet another one of Sharon Beck's children. "Life happens in a peculiar way; I guess it's destiny, if you believe in that sort of thing, but I can assure you, Sharon wouldn't change anything." Andy assured him, knowing the younger man needed a few minutes alone with his thoughts, as he lifted the empty plates from the table and started clearing up.

"I didn't realise babies need so much...stuff!" Rusty exclaimed, his eyes widening in apparent horror as he watched Sharon drop another bag of diapers into the already full trolley. He dreaded to think what the cost of their mad dash around the local mother and baby store was totalling up to. "This isn't even half of it" Andy informed him, watching as Rusty's mouth opened into an "o" shape as he stared at them in disbelief. How could one little person need so much?

Sharon appeared around the corner, carrying an armful of newborn and 0-3 months onesies, all in simple and plain designs, that she placed on top of the trolley that was filled to the top. "I think that's about all we'll manage to get today, we can pick up the formula that the hospital has been giving her on our way back." Sharon decided, knowing that the boot and back seats of the car was only going to hold so much, especially with putting both the car seat and Rusty in the back. "Agreed; we can come back in a day or two, get Andrea or someone to come along to help" Andy suggested, knowing they needed practical things like baby monitors and a pram, but they were on a race against the clock today. Pushing the trolley towards the check out desk, Sharon stopped when a grey bunny, it's floppy ears made out of soft cotton, came into her line of sight. She shrugged her shoulders playfully and chuckled as Andy rolled his eyes, "I was thinking we could go for a Peter Rabbit theme for the nursery" She joked, watching as he closed his eyes and resisted the urge to groan. Only his fiancée would be able to draw up a nursery plan at such short notice.

As the array of blankets, onesies, baby bottles, and more made their way across the scanner, Rusty couldn't bring himself to look at the total cost as he helped bag up their purchases, placing them back into the trolley while Andy went out ahead of them to install the car seat into the back of Sharon's car. When Sharon finished paying, he wheeled the trolley outside to the car, before the trio embarked on a game of Tetris to fit their purchases in the boot of the car.

Sharon folded her arms while she watched Andy as he finished fitting the base of the car seat, before locking the seat itself into place. Of all the times she had expected to need for her car, a baby seat was not one of them. Bringing her head to her hand, she could feel the situation momentarily get the better of her. She could hardly keep her thoughts straight; there was so much they had to do, so much they had to sort out. She would have to take time off work, tell her other children, somehow mentally prepare herself for raising a newborn again. All the while remembering that nothing was permanent yet. At the moment, all they were to her was her emergency foster parents; nothing more.

It wasn't until she had belted herself into the passenger's seat that she realised she was still clutching the grey bunny.

The last time either of them had been in a hospital was during Andy's recovery from his blood clot surgery. The last time either of them had been in a maternity ward of a hospital was over twenty years ago. As they approached the main entrance of the hospital, heading towards the elevators that traveled through the heart of the building, Sharon found herself reaching out to take Andy's hand, slipping her fingers through his. All the while holding the grey bunny, and one of their newly purchased swaddle blankets, in her free hand. While Rusty was busy speaking to Gus, providing his boyfriend with an update of the events of their morning, Andy took a moment to squeeze Sharon's hand, "We've got this, I promise" He assured her, knowing that the baby waiting for them couldn't ask to be placed with a better mother. While he had never seen her with her children when they were young, he saw the way she was with her kids, including Rusty, and how much cases involving children affected her more than perhaps anyone else on their team.

When the elevator doors opened, Sharon's eyes landed on Cynthia. "Good morning, Captain" She greeted as the trio emerged from behind the metal doors. "Lieutenant, Rusty," Cynthia nodded her head at the two men before returning her attention to Sharon, "if you would all like to follow me."

None of the group spoke as they headed through the ward, Rusty's eyes darted around him as he listened to the beeping of pagers and watched as anxious family members paced the floors outside of delivery rooms. For a brief second, he felt a moment of sympathy towards his birth mother, but it quickly disappeared when he remembered that his baby sister had spent the entirety of her life so far abandoned and alone. Sharon kept her eyes fixed in front of her, seeking out any sign that they were near the nursery. The sound of an infant crying alerted her that they were nearing their destination as Cynthia turned the corner.

"I thought you may as well meet her first before we finish the paperwork," She offered, giving the trio a smile as she opened the door, leading them into the nursery. There were three tidy rows of cots, each with either a pink or blue blanket laying across the front, next to the occupant's medical file. Seeking out one with a pink blanket, Sharon came to a stop when Cynthia brought them to the cot at the furthest end of the back row. For a minute, she couldn't help but think the baby had been placed there as almost an after thought; another sign of her abandonment.

Andy came to a stop beside Sharon, letting go of her hand so that he could place his hand on her back as they looked down into the cot. Neither of his own children had been so small when they were born, and as the baby lay in the middle of the empty cot, he couldn't help but think it made her look even tinier. "I had no idea they were so small," Rusty said, breaking the silence that had fallen over the group. It was then that Sharon realised her adoptive son had probably never spent more than a minute or two in the company of an infant before, let alone a three day old baby. "Is she okay?" Andy asked, catching the eye of a nurse that was hovering nearby at one of the other cots. "She's been feeding better well, all things considered, she's a little on the small size but we're sure she'll get her weight on in no time" The nurse informed them, nodding her head encouragingly as she finished checking on the other infant before making her notes on the medical file.

As the nurse spoke to Andy, Sharon stepped forward to reach inside the cot, slowly and carefully lifting the newborn into her arms as though she was the most delicate of jewels. It broke her heart to think that the baby had likely only ever been held by the nurses finding her a bottle or changing her. "Hello," Sharon spoke softly, her fingertip running across the baby's soft cheek before slipping into her hand, watching as the baby's short fingers wrapped around her own finger as her engagement ring caught the bright lights of the ward.

Andy wasn't sure how he expected to feel, and he couldn't put it down as one word, or even describe the emotions he was feeling. There was the woman he was about to marry, that he was madly in love with, holding a baby that wasn't theirs by birth, but that would be their responsibility. Sharon was already in love with the baby in her arms, one look at face confirmed as much to Andy. She was heads over heels for that baby already, and because of that, he couldn't help but feel his own heart skip a beat or two as he looked down at the infant.

"We do have one matter we need to deal with, sooner rather than later," Cynthia announced, breaking the spell that the couple were under. Rusty crossed his arm nervously, knowing he wouldn't relax fully until they had his sister out of this place. "The little one doesn't have a name yet," The case worker revealed, nodding at the folder in her arms. They needed a name for her paperwork.

Sharon felt herself biting her lip as she looked down at the baby that rested against her chest, peacefully asleep as she clutched onto her finger, as though she no longer had a care in the world, her fine blonde locks poking out of the front of her little cotton hat. The baby in her arms wasn't exactly hers, she felt no right to name her. "How about we let Rusty pick?" Andy suggested, almost as though he could hear Sharon's thoughts, as he placed his hand on her back, his eyes fixed on the baby in her arms.

"You have a little bit of time left to pick..." Cynthia started, knowing that the whole situation was a lot for the family to wrap their heads around.

Rusty shook his head, cutting her off as he spoke, "Your mother's name is Elizabeth, right?" He asked, looking across the now empty cot at his adoptive mother, who shyly nodded her head. She had wanted to name Emily after her mother, but Jack had thought the name was too 'old fashioned' and they had settled on Emily. "I mean, the kid needs a decent name, something a bit more than 'Rusty', don't you think?" He asked, knowing that he at least owed Sharon enough to call his sister after her mother. "And we can always shorten it to Lizzie or Eliza, even Liz if you prefer," Andy added as a suggestion, wondering how well Provenza would take the news of the baby's situation in their family, especially with a nickname like "Liz".

"I rather like the name Eliza" Sharon decided, letting the name roll off her tongue as she looked at the baby, as though checking if the name truly suited her. Yes, Eliza. "Eliza Beck it is then" Cynthia announced, glad that they had sorted their first problem out quick enough, unaware that her three companions were each biting back from commenting on her surname. There was nothing any of them could do about it for now.

"Welcome to the madhouse, Eliza" Rusty joked, quickly breaking the tension as he gained a laugh for the other three adults. His sister was home now, and perhaps, exactly where she belonged.