Chapter Text
The house was as quiet as it could be with four kids, the twins having been tucked in, read to, and both were asleep.
Race sat on the couch, Albert by his side, Conny on the other, drawing, Brooklyn sat on the floor, by the couch, playing some kind of game on her tablet, Spot loading the dishwasher.
The calm was broken by the doorbell, Albert getting up, opening the door, to find four police officers standing right outside their door.
"Mr. DaSilva? NYPD. We recieved alarming calls from several worried parents." Albert tensed up, already on high alert, because neither of them had done anything, not even speeding. It had to involve the kids.
"About what?" Albert asked, defensive.
"We have reason to believe that you have kids here that are not yours, legally, and we need to investigate this matter. You have a right to remain silent, anything you say, or do, can be considered evidence."
Albert paled, looked back over his shoulder, saw that both Conny and Brooklyn were getting close, but Spot, having finished loading the dishwasher, held them back.
"Pop?" Brooklyn asked, looking at him as he blocked their way, and view. "Go to your rooms." Spot said, keeping surprisingly calm, staring at the officers. Their expressions changed, suspicious.
"We're coming in. We need to look around the place. Your behaviour is suspicious." One of the officers said, his eyes narrowed, arms crossed over his chest.
"Not without a warrant, you're not coming in." Albert protested, glaring. Race walked up to Albert.
"We do have a warrant, sir."
Race leaned against Albert, to whisper in his ear. "Do you think they'll find anything?"
Albert just stared at him, eyes wide, in disbelief that Race even thought it.
"You know what I mean." Race whispered, and the cops looked even more suspicious at the whispering, as they pressed past Albert.
"Hey, don't go in there." Race protested as they looked around, one officer having his hand on the handle to the twins' room.
"What are you keeping in there?" The officer asked, eyes fixed on Race.
"It's literally written on the door, there's two names there. They're four years old, and they're asleep. So, don't wake them, damnit."
One of the officers came with a pill bottle in his hand. "Would you care to explain to me why you have prescription sleeping pills on your living room table? For ... Edwin Antonio Higgins? Do you have a valid prescription?"
Race glanced at it, realizing that the damned prescription was not valid after all. "They're mine." He stood by the door, blocking the way in, not wanting Roxy and Rocket to wake up to this.
The officer wasted no time forcing Race to his knees, with far too much force, then down onto the floor.
"You are resisting authorities, and legally, I have the right to search any room I want."
The metal handcuffs clicked in place behind his back, locking his arms in place.
"Pa!" Conny's voice was loud, scared, and joined by Brooklyn, both girls looking at the scene with wide eyes, Brooklyn discreetly having grabbed her camera, recording it all.
Blood trickled down Race's temple, from impact, and the officer hauled him up to sitting, going in the room, where two toddler beds were, turning on the ceiling light, instead of the nightlight they had left on.
Roxy sat up, wearing her favorite pajamas, a hand me down that Brooklyn outgrew before she could use it much, the Disney Princesses print on it a little cracked now, with how much Roxy used it.
Rocket was tucked under his blanket, that he'd had since they brought him home, thumb in his mouth, unaware to all of it, for the moment.
Roxy curled up, under her own blanket, scared of the four strangers coming into her room.
Spot tried going in the room, but was shoved back. "You sit on the couch, don't move, don't go near the kids." One of the officers ordered, harshly dragging Spot over to the couch, making him sit down.
"Geez, what? You think I got a gun in my pajama pants?! You come barging into my house, wake up my kids, and act like I'm some criminal." He said, and that made one officer move to watch him like a hawk.
"Where's the gun?" The officer asked, staring at Spot.
"I don't have one. If I did, I wouldn't have it in my pajama pants. But I don't own one. Feel free to search the place for it, since you're already turning the place upside down." Spot muttered, looking towards Roxy and Rocket's room, hearing the kids cry.
"Dad! Pop! Pa!" Roxy cried, desperately trying to reach any of her parents, but she was held back, away, and that made her cry harder, tears running down her cheeks.
Albert tried to go to their room, but was also stopped.
"You really gonna keep me from my kids? My crying kids, who you woke up." Spot muttered, as the twins cried, Brooklyn trying to go to Race, who was now pulled up to a sitting position, against the wall, still handcuffed.
"Stay back." The officer said, keeping his hand on his gun, unaware that Brooklyn was recording, because the camera was hidden behind a stuffed plush rabbit, only the lens clearly visible, which no one payed any attention to.
"Pa. Are you okay?" She asked, as the camera recorded it all, from a distance.
Race looked up, looking at her, wanting to make her think he was, not wanting to show that he was afraid.
"Yes."
An officer glared at him. "You're not talking to the children, you're keeping your mouth shut. All three."
Spot scoffed, glaring right back at the officer.
"Right! You're keeping us from our kids, yet we're the bad guys." Spot muttered, looking over at the twins, who were crying hysterically, tears running down their cheeks.
One of the officers scooped Rocket up, somehow gentle, but he screamed at the top of his lungs, squirming in the officer's arms.
"Hands where I can see them!" One officer yelled, eyes on Spot, who had his hand on his knee, the other by his side.
Spot raised his hands, in disbelief, moving far too fast for the officers' liking.
"Hands behind your head! On your knees!" The guns were aimed at him, and he reluctantly did as they asked. One stepped forward, forcing his arms into handcuffs, with unneccesary force.
"Geez, you gonna dislocate my shoulder? You don't have ta break it!"
"We found nothing, but your behaviour is extremely suspicious, so, we are bringing all three of you in." The officer holding Rocket stated, another officer harshly shoving Roxy and Brooklyn back, Roxy tripped on her nightgown, and cried harder because of it.
Albert looked angry, and he was, and it showed.
"Wait what?!"
"Resisting arrest, get him down."
Someone pushed Albert to his knees, wasting no time to get him cuffed as well.
Two of the officers half dragged Roxy and Brooklyn out, while Rocket got carried, and Conny led out, and once they were out, all four looked at the neighbours.
"Mom! Mom! Mom! Help!" The kids screamed in unison, the way Spot, Albert and Race had taught them to do if someone was taking them against their will.
Albert's eyes found Roxy's fox, her biggest comfort in the world, now dropped, discarded like it was nothing. Worthless.
His heart broke, watched as an officer stepped on it, leaving a shoe print on its head, on the fox he had lovingly picked out months before the twins were born, and that all three of them had taken turns cuddling so that it would smell like them and she had taken to it instantly.
They were led to the officers car, shoved in the back, while the kids were led into another, the neighbours watching, and some recorded.
Once the car doors slammed closed, Race leaned forward, his head against the seat in front of him.
"They're taking them from us." He whispered, choked up.
"We still have the right to call... to call someone.." Albert replied, his voice trembling as the car pulled out of their driveway, taking them to the police station.