Summary: Oh my God I can't believe it's finally over. I've been working on this story for so long and I am so sad to see it ending. I want to thank everyone who continued to read this story and favoriting it. I'm also glad for all the story and author alerts that you guys did letting me know that you liked my work. I don't know if I'll ever write another FAKE story but I know I'll keep reading them. Once again thanks to everyone out there who stuck with me through this story. You guys rock and you rock hard and steady.

Disclaimer: I don't have the sheer brilliance to come up with an idea like this but this story is all me, which may or may not be a good thing.

Chapter Twenty

Four days after the shooting, Ryo was in Dee's hospital room waiting for him to finish dressing. It was finally time for him to go home and Ryo couldn't be happier.

"Well I hope you're ready to go home because the staff is definitely ready to get rid you." Ryo smirked as he helped Dee slip his shirt over his head.

Dee laughed. "Get rid of me. It's they're fault I'm like this. They made me stay here longer than I had to."

"Yes, because why should the doctor care whether or not you get an infection that could have ultimately killed you."

"That's all I'm saying."

"You're an idiot and don't you dare say yeah but I'm you're idiot."

"But I am." smiled Dee as he grabbed Ryo's shirt and pulled him into a kiss. "Now let's get out of here before the nurse comes."

"Why would you care about the nurse?"

"Because he doesn't want to be escorted out in a wheelchair even though I keep telling him its hospital policy."

Both men turned to see Dee's nurse, nurse Aden, standing in the doorway with a wheelchair ready. "Isn't that right Detective Laytner?"

"You're damn right." Dee hissed. "I refuse to be wheeled out of this place like some invalid person. I can walk."

"Are we really going to have this conversation again because I really don't have time for this?" Like Dee, she was ready for the man to go home as well. After all her years of nursing she could honestly say he was one of the worse patients she ever had, no matter how good looking he was. "I have other patients you know." she snapped impatiently.

"Then take them the wheelchair."

"Dee-"

"No Ryo, no matter what you say I'm not being carried out of here in that thing. I rather shoot myself…I mean I rather cut up my favorite and most expensive pair of jeans. I refuse to do it."

Ryo sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. He should have known that Dee would react to the sight of a wheelchair. It was something he'd done before. "Dee-"

"No wheelchair Ryo, I mean it."

"Dee stop being such a stubborn jackass." Ryo finally snapped as he walked over to the nurse and took the wheelchair from her hands. "I know that you're tired of being here, so I am so why don't you do what the nurse says and sit down in this chair."

"You don't understand-"

"I understand that we really don't have time for this. Everyone is back at my apartment waiting for us so get your ass in that wheelchair so we can go."

"Ryo-"

"Dee I'm serious. Get in the damn wheelchair now."

"And if I refuse."

Ryo smirked as he moved closer to Dee's ear and whispered in it. The nurse had the privilege of watching Dee lose the frown and his eyes widened as big as dinner plates. She couldn't hear what was being said but from what she could tell it couldn't be good.

As Dee listened to Ryo's threats, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You wouldn't." he whispered after Ryo pulled away from him smirking evilly.

"I would and I will if you don't sit down now."

Dee felt trapped. The thought of leaving the hospital in a wheelchair made him feel less than uncomfortable but the thought of Ryo not doing those things to him made him feel even worse. Finally he made the decision to put his pride aside and take a seat.

Ryo smiled triumphantly as Dee finally gave up and motioned for him to bring the wheelchair closer. Both he and nurse helped Dee slowly into the chair and waited for him to adjust before Ryo walked away to grab his lover's things. Placing the bag in Dee's lap, he then walked over to the nurse and grabbed her hand, shaking it.

"Thanks for taking such good care of him Nurse Aden."

She shook his hand graciously smiling at him the entire time. "Please call me Melissa and I should be thanking you for finally getting him out of here. I would be lying if I said he was a pleasure."

"All that stuff that happened was not all my fault."

"Not all but most." she snapped. "Now do me a favor and get out of my hospital detective and don't come back for a long long time."

"My pleasure." snipped Dee back. He made a evil face as the nurse left the room before looking up at Ryo with a soft smile. "Well I don't know about you but I'm ready to go home."

Ryo snorted and began pushing the wheelchair out of the room. "I bet you are."

They arrived at the apartment and Mother was the first to greet Dee as he walked through the door, using Ryo as support. Running over to him and gently throwing her arms around his neck. "My baby boy is finally home."

"Yes Penguin I am. Did you miss me?"

"Of course I missed you," she smiled as she let go of him but gripped his ear. Not hard enough to really hurt but hard enough. "You had me worried sick you know."

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault. None of this is your fault but it will be if you don't do as the doctor says and rest."

"I have the rest of this week and next week off, doctor's orders." Dee grinned as she let go of his ear. "But I don't think it will take that long for me to heal. I should be back to work in no time." He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek before walking further into the apartment to greet his friends and everyone else who was there.

Ryo's eyes continued to watch him for a short while before they turned to Mother. "Don't worry Mother I will make sure he does everything to the letter." he promised, grabbing her hands reassuringly.

Mother Lane could only sigh. "Please do. If it were left up to Dee he would have been out of the hospital days ago and already back at work."

"You're being completely honest. As much as Dee loves to complain about his workload he hates being at home for long periods of time. It's as if he doesn't know how to shut his inner cop off."

"Well just make sure he does at least for the time being. We wouldn't want him to do something stupid like pop a stitch or get an infection."

"I'll make sure he behaves."

"I know you will." smiled Mother as she placed a small kiss on Ryo's cheek. "Now let's go make sure Dee's not getting himself into any trouble.

Ryo laughed. "I doubt it."

Thirst pulled Dee away from JJ and Drake and the detective made his way to the kitchen. He was surprised to see Katherine sitting at the table alone.

"Katherine." smiled Dee as he walked over to the table and beside her. "I didn't know you were here."

"No one did. I kinda snuck in when no one was watching because I really wanted to see you. You know, make sure you were okay."

"You didn't have to, sneak in that is. You could've come to the hospital to see me. You brought the kids."

Katherine laughed. "I didn't have much of a choice. When they heard about…what had happened they all but demanded I take them to see you."

Dee smiled at the memory. It had been his second day in the hospital when Beth and Josh came to see him with flowers and a card. They were happy to know that he was going to be okay. "How are they holding up?"

"Good. They wanted to be here today but I told them they were not missing school."

"Do they know everything?"

"Yes." nodded Katherine. "I decided that I wasn't going to lie to them about anything anymore. They don't understand why their father did what he did but I think with time and maybe some counseling they'll be okay."

"That's good. At least they won't have to go through the ordeal of a trial since David decided to plea out."

After David's arrest he knew there was no point denying what he had done so he confessed to everything. Dee still wasn't to keen on pressing charges, thinking about Katherine and how it might affect her but D.A.'s office wasn't about to let a cop shooter go free. Luckily Dee was able to convince Paul to make a deal with David. Instead of going to prison he would spend a mandatory five year sentence in a psychiatric hospital. It wasn't what he deserved but it's what Dee wanted.

Suddenly Katherine stood up and grabbed Dee's hand. "I just want to say how sorry I am for all this."

Dee shook his head. "Katherine what happened was not your fault."

"Isn't it? David tried to kill you because of me. Because he felt isolated. Because I wasn't spending enough time with him. Because-"

"He felt jealous and was angry that he no longer had control over you. That's why he did what he did plain and simple. Look David has his own mind and that day he chose to do what he did. He was the one who didn't care about the consequences. He was the one who broke the law, not you. And I understand that he is your husband and you love him so you want to take the blame for what he did but you can't. You're not him."

Katherine reached up to wipe the fallen tears that escaped from her eyes. "How can you say all that after all that's happened?"

"I don't know I just can." shrugged Dee. "I can because I have a partner who adores me, friends who look out for me, annoying brats that looks up to me, and two moms who would do anything to make sure I'm happy. I'm surrounded by people who love me every day of the week and that is what makes me realize just how good life is. I could hold a grudge if I wanted to but in the end that would only bring the people around me down as well and they don't deserve that. Neither do I. I deserve to be happy and that's what I'm going to be no matter what.

It was as if she was seeing Dee for the first time since they met. Never had she met a man so compassionate, loving, and forgiving. He was truly everything she hoped he would turn out to be. A part of her felt sadden that she had no hand in his upbringing but overall she was glad for the people who had been an important part of his life. They were the reason he was standing before her smiling that bright white smile of his. It was because of them that he was alive and well.

"You are a truly amazing person."

"Must be in the genes." he smirked as he pulled her into an embrace.

She laughed as he continued to hold her and the two of them stayed like that for a while before pulling apart. "I meant what I said Dee. You really are a great person."

"After years of Jess plowing it into my brain I guess it was only a matter of time before I became it."

"Why does that name sound familiar."

"What, Jess?"

"Yes." Katherine pondered slowly as she slowly began pulling away. "There was a man that I talked to the day after I lost you at the police station by that name. He's the one who told me no children had been reported but he would help me. After a few days he told me that you were probably somewhere better off where people could look after you better than I could. He said that I should get my life together first before having any more children. I didn't want to believe him but it was true. I wasn't stable enough to take care of a child and perhaps you were better off."

"Was his last name the same as mine."

"I don't remember. I don't even think I got his last name. I just know that he was a police officer."

"Well perhaps you're thinking about Jess Laynter. He's the one who brought me to the orphanage with Mother. Jess was like a father to me while I was growing up and it was his death that inspired me to become a police officer." Dee stated a little confused. If Jess knew all those years about his birth mother why wouldn't he tell him.

"Maybe because he didn't want to hurt you."

Dee looked over at Katherine, wonder in his eyes. "Excuse me."

"I said maybe he didn't want to hurt you." Katherine repeated herself.

"But if he knew then he should have told me."

"Perhaps but I'm glad he didn't."

Now Dee was even more confused and shocked. "What…I don't understand."

Katherine walked over to her son and placed his hand in hers. "After talking to that officer I realized that he was right. I had no idea how to be a proper mother nor did I have anything that would help raise you. He did the right thing by taking you somewhere where you'd be safe and loved."

"But he lied." Dee hissed.

"Yes he did but he did it out of love. He just wanted to protect you and for that I can't be mad at him and neither should you." She sighed deeply when the anger in his eyes didn't go away. "I know you feel betrayed by all of this and it will take some time to get over but you have to stop and wonder would you want your life to be any different than it was."

"I loved my time at the orphanage. I wouldn't change a thing."

"And I'm so happy that you did." smiled Katherine as she squeezed Dee's hand harder. "Because it was there that you got the chance to become the person you are today just like I'm happy that I'm finally in a good place and ready to be a mother to you. I wasn't then but I am now."

Dee shook his head angrily. "He still should have told me. I trusted him with everything and he didn't tell me once that you actually came looking for me." He turned his head away from Katherine and stared blankly at the floor. "You know, when I was younger I used to ask him why you never came back and he would just shrug his shoulders, not saying a word. I assumed that he didn't want to tell me the truth because he didn't want to my feelings but if he knew then-"

She reached out her hand and turned his face back to her. "Do you believe in fate; and that everything happens for a reason?"

"If you mean like destiny then yeah, I do." answered Dee, shrugging.

"Then maybe what happened was supposed to happen. Maybe I was supposed to lose you in order to find you." Katherine replied. "You didn't have to say Josh that day but you did, which lead you to me, which lead us to the truth that brought us together. Maybe it was always supposed to turn out this way."

"So you're saying it was fate that tore us apart and brought us together."

"I choose to believe that it was."

Dee wanted to say something else, tell Katherine to stop defending Jess and his behavior but he couldn't because she was right. His life may have not been perfect but it was better than he could have imagined. He grew up surrounded by love and support with people who accepted him as he was. If he didn't have that there was no telling who or what he might be. "You're right." he finally admitted with a sigh. "Maybe what he did was for the best."

"It was.

"I guess we should go out there and see what everyone is up to. Ryo's probably worried about me doing too much too soon."

"Alright." Katherine let go of Dee's hand and started making her way to the door.

Dee watched her walking away when he suddenly felt compelled to call out her name. "Hey Katherine."

"Yeah." she smiled turning around, happy that the anger in his eyes was now gone.

He smiled back as he opened his mouth to say the words he'd been meaning to say for a long time to his birth mother. "I just wanted to thank you for doing what you thought was best for me and to also say that I love you."

It took all the self control she had not to cry upon hearing the words she waited almost 30 years to hear. With a quivering smile, she placed her hand over her heart and looked up at Dee. "I love you too. Now let's get back out there and celebrate your return properly."

"Yes ma'am." laughed Dee as he caught up with her. Looping his arm through hers, they walked out of the kitchen together and finally complete.

Another story bites the dust. Hope you liked the ending it was something I threw together at the last minute. Well not really the last minute but I wanted to do something that would tie the story together and give it that nice happy ending. Once again thanks for reading and if I do right another story hope to see your guys again. Anyways have a great day, week, month, year life and keep on keeping on. Shooting stars and love boats,

LadyCizzle.