Aaron had never booked a flight last minute until his wife had called him frantic, saying the girl who had been missing for months had been kidnapped. She had been found and they were both at the hospital.

"Walk," he said, waking the boy. "We are going to go and fly to mommy," he told him.

All of a sudden, the nine-year-old who had spent weeks fighting with him roused and pushed him out of the room. "I'm getting packed!" He exclaimed, hurting Aaron's old man ears. "Is mommy with my new sister?"

"Yes," he replied, then went to pack himself.

There was a pit in his stomach. What came next? The three of them had a good thing going. And truth be told, Aaron was not keen on the adoption. Idina said she was doing it for him, which made it worse. One does not adopt a child to appease a spouse, especially a spouse who wanted parenthood. From what he had heard, they would be letting an angsty teen into their home. One who was a flight risk and did not want to be there. Aaron wanted someone he could hold in his arms. He knew of young children, as young as two, who would not let a certain guardian, usually male, step near them for years. And a mad teenager with who knows what for baggage?

He was getting ahead of himself. For all she knew, the girl would no longer be allowed to come to California with them.

"Will my sister be mean?" Walker asked him om the flight.

"Huh?"

"Sometimes sisters are mean, is the one mommy has going to be a mean one?" he asked. "If she is mean, can I get a not mean sister? If mommy can get me a sister, she can get me a not mean sister, right? Like when shoes do not fit, and she gets me one that fit?"

Aaron's gut lurched. Walker was talking about a person like she was a toy. "I don't know," he admitted. "But I don't think she will be," he assured before continuing: "I don't think your mom would bring someone into your life she thinks would be mean to you. And if it does not work out and she does not want to stay with us, she does not have to."

Aaron sunk lower and lower as they rose thousands of feet into the air. This was actually happening. Tomorrow, if all things went the way his wife wanted, they would have a sixteen-year-old girl in their custody. What if she was mean to Aaron? He knew how this went, foster children who did not have a good relationship with either of their foster families. It was fighting and yelling and messy and out of control. Total one-eighty from their current life.

"Maybe I should be mean first," Walker said. "Younger brothers are supposed to be annoying. Taylor and Dylan are always telling their sisters things. Like Dylan calls Anneliese ugly and fat and he says sometimes he will punch her 'because she punches him and then she cried, and his mom gets mad at him even though she's taller because she is a girl. But do you know right that girls have cooties, so you will not let mom gang up on me? I know daddy will not. He said if it goes wrong, I need to tell him, and he'll fix it."

"Don't be mean first," Aaron advised. "If you are mean first, she could be meant right back. You can try being nice." It took convincing, but Aaron was able to get his stepson to agree that he had to be nice if he wanted a nice sister. "She's a person Walk, a kid just like you."

Deep down, that was not true. She was a teenager, and she was nothing like Walker. She was a runaway. To begin with. He did not have the papers, but that girl was a serial escape artist. They would spend the next two years running manhunts across Los Angeles. And that could be the beginning.

Aaron should have married a younger woman. He had thought not having children was not a deal-breaker – but a year in and he found out it more likely was than was not. And his new bride was firm, yet she loved him enough to try this. A compromise, except it, had been Idina's decision, not theirs. Was this telling of what the rest of their married life would be? Idina choosing things for him, things he did not even want himself?

He should have listened to Taye. Not jump into marriage so soon.

The plane landed and they took a cab to the apartment and left their bags with the bellhop before heading off to the hospital. Idina was passed out on the rows of plastic chairs, uncomfortably prompted up by the wall and nowhere but her sweater to keep her warm. Walker was by her side in an instant. He unzipped his jacket then draped it around her and kissed her forehead.

"Where's the sister?" he asked Aaron. "Is she sick? I don't want a dying sister."

Aaron did not want a dying kid either. At least they would know in a few weeks if she had health conditions or not. She was old enough at least for those things to be easily found. No finding out your child had a fatal disease after nine months of waiting to enter the world.

Aaron asked a staff member where the girl was – he could not remember her name, where the girl his wife had brought in, yes her, which room was she in?

It was not far. Just a few doors down the hallway from the waiting room. It was lit only by the sunrise coming in through the window and the few machines. Drawled by them and the bed sat a young girl. There was no way this was the right kid. She did not look sixteen. Gaunt and small-framed, Aaron could believe she was fourteen if he stretched his imagination. There was an IV in her arm and monitors attached to her under the hospital garments. She stared at the wall in a daze.

"HI," Walker said.

She looked up at them, startled, but said nothing. Walker strode in and sat on the edge of the bed, introducing himself and talking. Aaron watched the girl. She was interested in the child, a bit surprised by him. She did not look malicious. She shook Walker's hand gently when he offered it to her, and backed him from a hug, citing the machines in a soft, quiet voice Aaron could hardly hear.

Poor sweet child, he thought. She needed someone to protect her. He... did he want to be the one?

Walker went back to the waiting room to be with his mother and Aaron stepped in.

For the first time, the girl noticed him. Her eyes grew wide before her face turned pallid and rigid. Under the guise of sitting up straighter on the bed, she shuffled slightly away from him. Aaron stopped where he was, not wanting to impose further. She had been through enough already.

"I'm Aaron," he said. "Idina's husband. It's nice to meet you, I've heard a lot of wonderful things."

I ,She looked him up and down, eyes wide. "I'm Erika," she said, shocking him with how steady her voice was. Besides sounding hoarse and dry, there was nothing amiss in her tone. It chilled him. To gave that much... he worried her so much she was calm.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he assured her. It did not sound convincing. It sounded like a line. "I... just want to say hi." He took a step back.

"You don't want me," she said.

"I- no, I do. I would love for you to be a part of our family." maybe he wasn't lying. "I've always wanted a child, and Idina and I are getting on in our years. I'm sure you will fit in great with us."

"I'm not family material," she said, looking away for the first time. "It's okay, most kids my age aren't. But I am sure you will find someone who is, and you'll be incredibly happy."

Aaron was tongue-tied. The girl- Erika now that he had been reminded, was right. Aaron knew the statistics. Aaron knew himself. He wanted the milestones, he wanted to be loved, to be a father. Not guardian to a Stanger in his house who preferred to be a different room than him.

This was a path to broken hearts, yet Aaron was starting to see his wife's side. Walker was invested, she was invested. Aaron and the girl were the only ones who were not, and his resolve was fading.

"I don't want to be trouble," she said, not looking at him. "I know your wife is very invested..." she trailed off.

"She is," Aaron said softly, thinking back to the way Idina's face lit up. She was not just doing this for him. Deep down, he wondered if she needed this. His mother's warning came back. Make sure you know a girl before your purpose. He thought he had known Idina. He knew she needed support at care, and he was more than happy to shower he with it. She wanted a strong relationship to model for Walker. He can preform.

She had said she wanted to be family. But they were not, not really. She and him were married. She and Taye had Walk. She had a family with another man, but she was married to him. And she wanted them to have a family, but her work schedule was not conducive to getting pregnant. It was getting easier to see how Idina made the leap.

Now it might be.

Was his wife assessing him?

No, she was not that mean.

"You're not," the girl said.

Shit. If she could tell, Idina would.

"I am," he argued. Erika was not convinced. "But we just met," he reasoned.

She shrugged. "I don't want to be trouble," she repeated.

"You won't be," he said earnestly. He meant it. Aaron was not going to start a fight, and if the girl would not either, he saw no reason they could not get along after a while. A mentor, he could do that. That was realistic.

I want to be a father, he thought, arguing with himself. She is my only chance.