Chapter Text
The day Dennis Whitaker realized he didn't actually have to stay home confined to himself, was the day he felt intense joy.
You see, ever since he went on maternity leave not only was he stuck at home, he had nobody and nothing.
His routine was the same every day.
Wake up, pack Robby's lunch, wake Robby up, watch him get ready, kiss him goodbye.
And by there he'd just clean, lay down, eat, and repeat until Robby came home.
Nothing new, until he realized, Robby wasn't home. He didn't know whether he was home or not, why not take advantage of that?
And from that day on after Robby left, he'd stay back for a few minutes before changing into more presentable clothing.
Make sure he had his necessities such as:Phone, wallet, and keys.
And get out the house and drive off to wherever he wanted to.
He and Robby had two cars, their jeep and Dennis rusty car.
Technically they had three, if you counted Robby's motorcycle that Dennis always tried to hide from him.
They'd mostly stick to Robby's car now since Dennis isn't allow to drive, but Dennis still uses it.
Everyday Dennis would drive off to the stores, whether it be malls, bakeries, baby shops.
Anything to get his boredom out, and he'd enjoy it.
The best part was that Robby always thought he was home, resting comfortable where he felt safe.
Dennis felt guilty lying to him, but if only Robby knew how much bored he was at home.
It would've been better if he had Trinity but even on her days off she'd rather spend it with Dr.Garcia.
And well his other friends?
They all have a life too, he can't just expect them to drop everything they're doing to give into his needs, absolutely not.
It was around 12PM when Dennis awoke again, he had fallen back asleep after Robby left for work.
Today, he thought, he was going to buy a few clothing for himself and their son, although they had plenty to spare Dennis felt as if they only had one shirt.
He was definitely overdoing it but he couldn't stop, everytime he sees anything related to babies he just can't resist the urge to take it home with him.
It's pure instinct, he'd say to Robby whenever they'd go out.
And so Dennis got ready, mostly the usual. Casual clothing, wallet, phone and keys ready.
And off he goes.
Instead of driving he'd rather walk, there was a boutique nearby and he didn't want to spend more money on gas, especially now that it's high.
By the time he makes it to the boutique he's panting, not because he ran. But because walking now with a stomach that felt like a watermelon was much harder.
The lady welcomed him in as he started searching for items to buy, he was mostly looking for shorts.
It would be summer by the time their son would be born, Dennis has a love and hate relationship with summer.
His basket was filled to the brim, yet he insisted on buying more. Until his little cowboy decided to tell him to stop and kicked him in the ribs roughly.
"Okay okay, we'll stop now."
Dennis chuckled and rubbed his bump to soothe the ache his baby left, walking up to the cashier to pay.
Once Dennis paid he was starving of hunger, he only had a banana on the way and he had cash to spare.
'Should I go to the bakery?'
He thought carefully, Robby gets out of work more earlier nowadays and he'd be home in 2 hours.
It takes him an hour to walk, especially with the bags and the weight of his bump and his stubborn legs.
Dennis chuckled and shrugged, you only live once. He thought as he walked to the bakery, it was a bit of a distance but he's sure he'd make it home in time.
Maybe he should've just stayed home.
A sunny afternoon, Robby thought to himself.
Maybe he should take Dennis out somewhere, their anniversary was coming up and with the baby coming soon they didn't want anything too big, such as flying in an airplane or leaving the city.
It'd be a hazard in case something happens, so they'd go out to a restaurant or maybe just somewhere nearby. Quick and easy.
Robby checked the time, it was almost time for him to go.
With Dennis on early maternity leave he had a few privileges, such as leaving work hours before his shift ended, or being able to take paid days off.
He was one of the best doctors in their hospital and he had more experience, if he ever left everything would go downhill.
Which is another thing, although he has paid leave and all of those fun stuff he has one thing he despises.
And that's the fact he'll only be able to go on leave for 2 weeks.
At first he expected 2 months at the most, he needed to be there for Dennis during early labor, the birth, postpartum, and just watching over the baby.
But if he were gone for too long, the hospital would probably collapses, considering the fact he held it in place like glue.
Gloria did say however, if any complications were involved during that period of time. He'd be able to take a longer leave, as long as he had a doctor's note.
It felt like a joke to him, did they think he can control how Dennis birth will go?
"You're thinking too hard" Dana says, chewing her gum so loudly Robby wanted to rip it out of her mouth.
"No I'm not, I'm just considering if I should just leave or stay"
Dana twirled her pen, typing and staring at Robby at the same time.
"I heard you and Gloria arguing, poor Denny not he's going to be so lonely"
Robby gave her a stare that read 'Don't even' she snickered before going back to staring at her computer.
"You'd think because he's one of our doctors I'd get a longer leave"
Dana gave a chuckle under her breathe.
"None of us get that privilege, what makes you think you'll get that"
Robby rolled his eyes, giving Dana a scoff before walking off.
He checked his phone, checking his messages.
No new messages from Dennis, huh weird.
He stared at his phone for a while, switching apps to check if Dennis had even called, messages, emailed him, maybe used something on their card.
The only thing he really found were some purchases, he gave a long sigh before turning his phone off.
He'll see Dennis at home, like every other day. He'll be fine. Robby collected himself before making his way to a patient.
When Robby arrived home, it was eeriely quiet, it sounded hollow, as if no one had been home for awhile.
"Dennis?" He called out, he waited a moment, no response.
Dennis dropped his bag onto the floor, setting his keys onto the kitchen island and taking his shoes off.
While he did so, he kept inspecting the house, it was clean, but everything seemed untouched.
Robby walked to their room, checking and seeing that Dennis wasn't in their room either. Weird?
He knew a few of Dennis friends were off the schedule today, maybe he'd gone out to hangout with them? Especially Trinity, she always snuck Dennis out the house without consent.
He went back to their kitchen and heated himself leftovers, if Dennis didn't come back home in an hour or so he'd call Trinity to bring him back.
————————————
An hour had passed, there was no sign of Dennis coming back, and Robby was getting frustrated.
He grabbed his phone off the counter, checking his contacts before pressing onto Trinity.
After a long wait Trinity answered. "What could you possibly want"
"What I possibly want is for you to bring Dennis home, it's past his curfew and you know that"
There was a long dead silence on the other end before she spoke.
"What do you mean? I don't have Dennis with me, It's just me and Mel"
Robby was silent for a while, as if all his air had been sucked out of him before he spoke.
"Are you serious? Do you know where he could be, he's not with me" Robby was speaking frantically now, Dennis didn't hangout with anyone but Trinity.
"You can try calling his other friends"
"Yeah, yeah I'll do that. Thanks" Robby felt a pit of unsure in his stomach.
He hung up, scrolling through his contacts he called every person he knew Dennis hung out with.
They'd all said the same thing, he wasn't with them.
Now he was panicking, where could Dennis be? Was he lost? Was he spending the night somewhere with someone he didn't know? Was he kidnapped?
The thought of Dennis being kidnapped made him shiver, he needed to stop panicking and find a solution.
He called Jack, he knew he was on shift but he needed someone to help him before he went into physocosis.
"What's up brother"
"Jack! I need your help, I think Dennis is missing and I don't know what to do" Robby was speaking frantically, pacing throughout the whole house.
"Calm down Robby, what do you mean he's missing?"
Robby took a deep breath before continuing.
"I came home to an empty house, I thought he was with Trinity so I waited. When he didn't come I called Trinity, she didn't have him. I called his other friends in hope of him being there, but they all said the same thing. They didn't know where he was or who he was with"
Robby was chewing on his nails, a habit he's never done, but with all this anxiety he couldn't stop.
"Okay, okay. I'm going to leave my shift and I'm coming over, we're gonna help find him. I promise"
Robby nodded, even though Jack couldn't see.
"Okay, I—I'll be waiting for you"
Robby hung up, putting his phone down.
He had his hands in his hair, tugging.
He should've just stayed home, he should've never left, what was going to happen to him?
Robby pulled his hands onto the back of his neck, trying to relax himself while awaiting for Jack.
After what seemed like a whole day Robby finally heard the doorbell ring.
Jack.
He ran to the door, practically ripping the door from it’s hinges.
Seeing Jack’s face brought him relief , he quickly stepped aside, rushing him to get inside.
Jack whistled before speaking “So you think Dennis is missing?”
Of course I do! Dennis would never leave without giving me a warning beforehand that he was going to stay over someone’s house or come home late!”
”Calm down Robby, listen we can search for him but we legally can’t report a file to the police. It hasn’t been 24 hours, they’ll just tell us to keep searching”
Jack gently placed his hands on Robby’s shoulder blades, hoping to give him a feeling of relaxation.
“Let’s just call everyone and tell them to help us search for him, and if we don’t find him in the next day then we’ll file a missing person report”
Robby nodded, grabbing his wallet, keys, and phone before leaving the house with Jack.
That day, nobody would’ve guess Dennis had actually been missing.