Finn

Three months ago, my world changed: The one person I felt in the depths of my soul I was destined to be with left me to walk with God. She left the miracle that is our son, Finn Jr., behind to carry on her legacy. Despite it being filled with imperfect decisions and cataclysmic relationships, it was her legacy and half of it carried itself in my son. The other half, my legacy, was far from perfect; Was it the insubordination of my younger days or the fact that being wheelchair bound for the rest of my life made me almost completely incompetent? Either way, I fear the day my son grows old enough to understand the burden that is his father. I may be capable of performing basic tasks such as brushing my teeth, but I could not perform the one ability that would've made things a million times more simple; saving his mother. I've been told time and again by Becky and AJ and Alexa that I had no control over what happened with Paige, but the fact of the matter was that I did nothing to try and help her. I'm about as useful as a flashlight on the sun. I knew my son felt it too; When he'd wake me up with his cries in the middle of the night, I could sense the pain and fear whenever I'd appear. He fought and cried harder, he craved his mother's loving arms. And because of me he can never have that luxury.

"Ow are ya doin'?" Becky asked me one day while I was deep in thought.

I glanced down at my sleeping son. "I've been better, lemme tell ya." I shook my head and sighed. "He missus his mother, n I can't do nothin' to help him."

Becky gave me a sad smile. "I know, Finn, but he's got you. N I tink yer doin' pretty good so far."

I smiled slightly at Becky; She had been more than willing to help me with raising Finn Jr. AJ, Alexa, and Eva did their best, God bless them, but for whatever reason my son would refuse to be held by Eva. Was he threatened by her? Did Paige not like Eva and those feelings transferred to him? Was Eva just a shitty caregiver? All seemed equally possible. AJ always knew how to make my boy smile; Funny faces, weird accents, and not one too many tickles. AJ knew what he was doing, and by the way Eva looked at him whenever he'd succeed, it was clear she had the intention of starting a family with him. But what do I know, I'm just observing things from afar. Alexa, I still have no idea how, but every time I can't get Little Finn to calm down at night she manages to rock him back to sleep. I ask her how and she says she has a natural talent. I don't know if she's full of shit or actually has a super power, but I'm just glad she's here.

"Do ya wan' me ta take 'im for a lil' while," Becky snapped me out of my thoughts again. "Let ya take a nap?"

I yawned and shook my head. "Naw, I tink I can handle it."

But Becky wasn't taking no for an answer; She wheeled me into my room, took my son, and dumped me on my bed.

"Jesus Christ, are ya tryin' ta kill me?" I asked with a slight edge to my tone.

Becky gave me a look; it was the sort that your mother would give you when you were misbehaving at the grocery store. "You are a very tired dad, now shut up n let me watch Finn for a lil bit." Becky pulled the blankets over me and kissed me on the temple.

"I didn' realize I was five." I said sarcastically.

"Well, ya act like it." Becky slowly closed the door. Almost as soon as the handle clicked shut, I was fast asleep.

"Shit." I mumbled as I finally got some rest.

Alexa

Three months ago, our world changed. Bayley was on her way to the store to pick me up some cranberry juice to surprise me when I got home from rehab. Somewhere along the way, a truck ran a red light and collided with Bayley's side of the car. It nearly killed her: broken ribs, broken arm, a cracked skull. It makes me cry whenever I think about it. I know it's my fault she was on the road that day, but she tries to reassure me. Turns out the damage wasn't just external; there had been significant damage to her brain.

"Her frontal lobe and motor cortex have been damaged," the doctor showed me a copy of her x-ray while Bayley was asleep. "meaning she's going to have a tough time forming full sentences and basic motor functions."

I dropped my head into my hands. "Is it permanent?" I asked just above a whisper.

"That's the problem with brain injuries: They could last a day, a month, a year. Only time will tell."

"Does she need physical therapy?" I raised my head and rested my chin on my hands.

The doctor nodded his head. "Yes, hopefully that helps speed up the healing process."

So far, she was doing alright. She can stand up straight but needs a cane to walk. As for her speech, she can talk but struggles to remember certain words and sometimes stutters. I help her feed, dress, and clean herself; it was the least I could do after causing all this.

"H-h-hey yo-you." Bayley said with a smile, bringing me back to reality. "A-are you o-o-ok?"

I nodded my head and held Bayley's hand. "I'm perfect."

Bayley slowly nodded her head. "Yes yo-you are."

I gave her a sad smile and kissed her on her cheek. Bayley doesn't giggle anymore when I do that she just sorta smiles and wheezes. I know in her mind she's the same old Bayley, but to me she's the karma to my misdeeds in life. I lied, cheated, and hurt the ones I loved, and this was my punishment.

Bayley smiled and let out that familiar wheeze.

"What's so funny?" I asked with a smile, happy to see Bayley still found happiness in this fucked up situation.

"D-do you kn-know the worst p-p-part of this is?" She asked, still smiling.

I shook my head.

"N-n-no sex." She smiled and wheezed again.

I smiled and laughed; a slight weight taken off my shoulders knowing she was still somewhat happy.

"That's the worst part?" I asked.

Bayley slowly nodded her head.

"Not that knarly lookin' scar on your head?" I said, tracing the line from the back of her left ear to the top of her head with my fingertips.

"It-it m-m-m-makes me look bad-bad-bad ass." She replied with another smile and wheeze.

I kissed her gently, making her wheezing stop but kept her smiling.

"I love you." I whispered to her.

"I-I-I love you too."

I sat back into the couch and wrapped my arm around her.

"He-hey Lex, can you he-hel-help me to the b-ba-bathr-bathroom?"

I quickly stood up and grabbed her walking cane. "Oh, shit." I said with a laugh, making Bayley smile and wheeze.

As for AJ and Eva? They were the same people just with a different environment. AJ did all he could to help with Bayley and Finn Jr. Eva mostly kept her distance from the baby because he never seemed to like her. Being a free man was new to AJ; He didn't know what to do with all this extra time on his hands. Eva still worked at Big Dave's, which AJ considered applying to.

"It's not a bad job," Eva told AJ. "Plus, they need a cook like really bad."

AJ shook his head. "I don't know how to cook shit, I barely make bacon right."

"Baby please," Eva stuck out her bottom lip. "It would be so exciting to work with you."

AJ shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno."

"It'll keep you out of trouble."

AJ chuckled slightly. Their reunion at the hospital after AJ made it back was heart felt and something pulled from a rom-com from the 90's. AJ and Eva spent the first couple of days making vigorous and less aggressive love. The feeling of not being held down by criminal masterminds was a great relief to AJ.

"I'll stop giving you head if you don't."

AJ threw his hands in the air. "What the fuck?"

Eva smirked and shrugged her shoulders. "Now you have no excuse."

AJ shook his head. "Shit."

AJ

"Hey, you Dave?" I walked into Big Dave's Diner and approached the front counter. The guy who was standing there resembled someone I would call "Big Dave," pretty tall, well built, so chances are it was him.

"Nah, I'm Paul, Dave's in the back." Paul disappeared into the back behind a kitchen door. I tapped my fingers on the front counter and glanced around the restaurant; I had only been there when I was drunk or plotting a bank robbery, so it was a new change of scenery seeing it sober. I caught Eva's eye while she took somebody's order; She smiled and winked at me and I just smiled back. I didn't know what this girl did to me, but I was madly in love with her. She's an enchantress, maybe a witch. Definitely makes sense.

"Can I help you sir?" I turned around to find a slightly shorter man but with somehow larger muscles than the other guy.

"Yeah, Eva said ya'll were hirin'," I shrugged my shoulders. "Figured I'd give it a shot."

"You AJ?"

"Yeah." I nodded my head.

"Jesus, Eva doesn't shut up about you," He nodded his head towards the kitchen. "Follow me."

I followed the smaller guy into the kitchen. I took a look around and it seemed innocent enough; couple of guys in t-shirts and khakis flipping burgers and frying french fries. "Oh, in case you haven't figured it out," The smaller guy stopped walking and turned to face me. "I'm Dave the owner, the big guy you were talking to was Paul, everyone calls him Big Show cause, well, fuckin' dudes huge." He turned and pointed to a few of the chefs. "Big guy by the grill is Kevin Owens, the smaller dude is Enzo Amore, and that guy coming out of the freezer is HBK."

I raised an eyebrow. "HBK?"

"Yeah, Heart Break Kid."

I chuckled and nodded my head and followed Dave into his office. I sat in front of Dave's desk. "So," Dave folded his hands and leaned over his desk in my direction. "You ever work in a restaurant."

I shook my head. "I mean, I can cook shit just never in a restaurant."

Dave nodded his head. "That's fine, I couldn't cook shit when I bought this place. But after a little while I got the hang of it." Dave leaned back in his chair. "Eva happened to mention some things about you... Some things that wouldn't be put on a resume?"

I sighed and shook my head. "I don't have an excuse, I did dumb shit."

"No, I understand. I was in jail for awhile for smuggling drugs from Canada. Served my time, found Jesus, now I own the most popular restaurant in town. We don't discriminate here based on someone's pass."

I sighed in relief. "Jesus, Dave, that's great."

Dave smirked. "When can you start?"

"Whenever you need me to."

Dave nodded his head. "Yeah, ok, how about tomorrow. Come in a few hours before open and HBK can train ya. Get you familiar with the grill and fryers and shit like that." He stood up and shook my hand. "See ya tomorrow, kid."

I left the kitchen with a big smile on my face. Things started looking up for me, and it was about damn time. "How'd it go?" Eva walked up to me with a hopeful smile on her face. I took her head in my hands and kissed her. "Thank you so much for talking me into this." I said with a smile. She giggled and hugged me.

Finn

"Hey, baby, do you miss me? I know I miss you. You've been such a good daddy to Little Finn, I'm so proud of you-"

I snapped awake and sat up in a cold sweat. I tried catching my breath; Her voice, it sounded so real. I heard Paige's voice, what the hell was happening? I wiped the sweat from my face.

"I didn' mean ta wake ya." I jumped when I realized Becky was standing in the doorway.

I shook my head. "No, yer fine, Beck, I jus'... Bad dream."

Becky walked over to my bed and handed me Finn Jr. "Someone wanted his daddy."

I smiled and gazed at my son; his eyes were wide open and staring into mine. "He looks jus' like me." I kissed my son on the forehead, making him smile slightly.

"Wha' was ta dream abou'?" Becky had a look of worry in her eyes.

I shook my head. "It was notin' major."

Becky reached over and rubbed my knee. "You know I can' feel tha righ?" I said with a smile, making Becky pull her hand away and blush.

I glanced back at my son, his eyes still locked on mine. "Do you tink he knows who I am?" I asked Becky. "Like, does he know tha I'm his dad?"

Becky nodded her head. "Yeah, jus' look at how he looks at you." I smiled and rocked Little Finn. "He loves ya, jus' look at his eyes."

I glanced up at Becky; the look in her eyes looked like the look Paige used to give me whenever she told me she loved me. I quickly looked away and shook the thought from my mind.