Chapter Text
Jackson West’s eyes shot open at the sound of his ringing phone. He sluggishly reached into his pocket and pulled it out. He smiled when he saw who was calling him. “No baby yet,” Jackson told his roommate with a smile after he accepted the call.
“You’ve been there over 12 hours!” Lucy complained.
“I know.” Jackson moved around in the waiting room chair, then reached to itch his left leg, but his hand brushed his empty pant leg. “These hospital chairs are uncomfortable!”
“At least you aren’t there all alone. That must help a little. I’m sure their moms are excited!”
Jackson looked around the deserted waiting room. Various people had filtered in and out in the time he’d been there, but now it was quiet and empty. “They’re waiting until the baby comes before they tell their families. Angela said she didn’t want to feel like she was on display. And she knows that I have no desire to be in the room.”
“Childbirth is messy, but also beautiful,” Jackson remembered that Lucy had delivered a baby when they were still rookies.
“I’ll take your word for it.” Jackson didn’t want to ever be present for a birth. He was fairly certain he’d never have any children of his own. He’d dote on Angela’s kids and if Lucy or Marshall ever had kids.
“Maybe I’ll have you watch when I give birth.” Lucy laughed which told Jackson that she wasn’t serious. At least he hoped she wasn’t being serious.
“That’s not happening.” Jackson watched as Wesley entered the waiting room with a huge smile on his face. “I’ll call you back. Wesley just came in.”
“Baby!” Lucy squealed as Jackson ended the call.
“Is the baby here?” Jackson asked as he reached for his crutches.
“He is!” Wesley replied and sounded exhausted and happy at the same time.
He. Jackson smiled. He knew the baby would be a boy. He just knew it.
“Do you need any help?” Wesley asked.
“No. I’m good.” He maneuvered both crutches in front of him and then used them to pull himself up. It’d been almost 3 months since Jackson’s leg had been amputated and Jackson now considered himself to be an expert on crutches.
“When will the new leg be ready?” Wesley led the way to Angela’s room.
“Next Tuesday. 5 more days. But they said it would probably be a few weeks before I can use it outside of rehab. And it’ll be a few months until I can be considered for active duty.” Jackson trailed a few steps behind Wesley, his crutches made a soft thumping on the tiled floor of the hospital hallway. He hated that. He’d always been the fastest and now he lagged behind.
Wesley stopped in front of a closed door with a blue piece of paper taped to the window of the closed door. He couldn’t quite read the writing on the paper. “My offer still stands if you’re interested. I think you’d make a great lawyer.”
Jackson nodded. He’d thought about Wesley’s offer, but he wasn’t ready to leave his lifelong dream behind.
Wesley opened the door and Jackson hobbled his way in. The first thing Jackson noticed about the room was Angela in the hospital bed with a small bundle in her arms. She looked tired, but just as happy as Wesley was. “Come over here and get a closer look.”
At Angela's suggestion, Jackson hobbled the rest of the way to the bed. The baby was asleep and wearing a yellow hospital hat. He couldn’t tell if the baby looked more like Angela or Wesley, but he was the cutest baby Jackson had ever seen. He instantly knew that he’d give his other leg or his life to make sure that baby was safe. “What’s his name?”
“Jackson Lopez Evers,” Angela told him. “We’ll call him Jack so there isn’t any confusion.”
Jackson looked at Angela and then looked over his shoulder at Wesley who had walked further into the room. “What? Did you really name him after me?”
“We did,” Wesley spoke from behind him. “If it hadn’t been for you I wouldn’t have my family today.” Jackson wasn’t sure about that. They would’ve gotten Anglea safely out of La Fiera’s compound without him. He only slowed down the rescue effort due to his injuries. And they had to stop at the American Embassy in Guatemala so he could get emergency medical attention. The bottom half of his left leg was still there in fact.
“And if it hadn’t been for you I would’ve pepper sprayed him,” Angela cocked her head in Wesley’s direction, ‘The day we met.”
Jackson nodded with a smile. She wasn’t wrong about that.
“Do you want to hold him?” Angela asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve never held a baby that fresh before.” The baby who was named after him didn’t even seem quite real. He looked so small wrapped up tightly in the white blanket. He was worried he might break him.
Wesley walked in front of him and over to the bed. “It’ll be fine. Just sit down.” Wesley gestured to a couch in the corner of the room.
Jackson hobbled over to the couch and sat down. He propped his crutches up against the edge.
“He’s tougher than he looks.” Angela handed the baby to Wesley. “He just had a very intense journey. I don’t know how all 8 pounds and 11 ounces of him got out, but he did it.”
“Hey Jack, are you ready to meet your Uncle Jackson?” Wesley walked with the baby over to Jackson and gently placed the newborn in Jackson’s arms.
The baby is so light Jackson feels like he’s holding nothing, but he’s very conscious of the little one in his arms. He always thought moms were exaggerating when they said they instantly felt a connection to their baby. Even though they aren’t genetically related he feels a connection to his namesake. He rode with Angela every day right around the Jack was created. He endured hours and hours of torture so Jack would have a chance at life. Angela visited him almost every day he was in the hospital and he got to put his hand up against Angela’s stomach and feel little Jack move (now he could feel him move under the swaddle). “I’m going to teach you everything you need to know to become a cop.”