I sat in the chair with Aria's arm around my shoulder while my mother stood behind me with her fingers running through my hair. Kadri's on my other side of me with her hand intertwined with mine. After one of the worst panic attacks I've ever had in my life, I felt awful. I was sweating profusely, my heartbeat was starting to come down slightly, and my shirt was half off since it was constricting me. I carefully slide my arm through the sleeve in my t-shirt before turning to look at Aria.

"Are you okay?" He whispers to me, sounding super concerned about the attack that he just witnessed. The only other one he ever saw, even partially, was the one at the hospital after I found out that Kai was missing. That one was bad, but this one was definitely ten times worse. I just faced the woman that sexually assaulted me and helped kidnap my son, so of course, I was going to panic.

I nod my head at him, letting my eyes flutter close as my energy was slowly draining out of my body. I was very close to falling asleep when the door to the room opens up and Detective Omar steps in with a huge smile on his face. Was that... good? Did they find him? Is my beautiful boy okay? And just like that, my mood turns up as he opens his mouth. "We found him. Amelia was right. He was in a building owned by a man by the name of Brendan Campos, who has just been picked up as an accessory to the crime. Malakai's on his way to the hospital now to get checked out."

We found him.

I don't even hesitate. I just stand up from my spot while Kadri hands me my crutches and we're off. I don't even focus on anything, except for the fact of my son. My beautiful son's alive. He's still breathing. I let that fact continue to run through my mind while Ximena drives all the way to the hospital with the help of the police escort we had. It doesn't take that long for us to get there and we all rush out, following the detective through the halls until we reach a door that had two officers standing in front of it.

Before I could even get close to the door, Detective Omar turns to me. "Okay, so for right now, only Mr. Whitehouse can go in since the last thing we want to do is stress the child out even more than he already is. The rest of you will get to see him once it's determined that he's up for it, I promise you. We won't keep you separated forever."

I could tell that that annoyed everyone, but at the same time, they completely understood that Kai would probably be fragile right now. After talking with the detective for a bit more, they're escorted to a waiting room after giving me big hugs. I felt bad that they wouldn't get to see him after all that we've been through together, but right now, all I cared about is making sure my baby boy was okay. Once a nurse takes them away, Detective Omar turns to me with a nurse standing next to him that looked very sweet.

"So," the detective says with a small smile on his face. "we're going to have you talk to a doctor about how Malakai is, just so you can be prepared for when you go in there. Don't worry, it won't take long. I know how much you really want to see him."

I was disappointed that he had brought me right in front of the door that my son was behind and was then going to take me away, but I understood. I needed to know what Kai's physical and psychological health was looking like before I did anything, so I gladly follow behind the nurse at a slow pace because of my stupid crutches.

I'm brought to a different office type room that I waited in until a doctor walks in. She looks very friendly with her auburn hair and big, thick glasses that made her seem very friendly. I was hoping that she was the one that was treating Kai because he would definitely be very fascinated by her look and would probably be interested in her. She reaches her hand for me to shake, which I gladly do. "Hi, Mr. Whitehouse. I'm Dr. Ross, a child psychiatrist. Ever since Malakai's arrived about an hour ago, I've been slowly talking to him and getting to know what happened."

"Is he okay?" I rush out before I could think of anything else.

Dr. Ross smiles at me. "He seems to be okay. He seems happy to know that he'll be seeing you soon, so I'll make sure to keep this short. Usually with children reuniting with their parents after a traumatic event, there will be an adjustment period, okay?"

"What does that mean?" I ask in a soft voice.

"Basically, we'll take things slow. Since he's so young, I rather him only be around people he's very close to, like his immediate family. The people he sees every day," she says in a soft voice, scanning the papers that she had in front of her. "so for right now, it'll just be you. But from what I've seen with him, he'll recover okay. He seems a bit skittish of new people, mostly older men, which might take some time for him to recover from. But besides that, he does seem okay."

"Is he physically hurt?" I ask, wondering if he would look bad when I see him.

"Well," she says, looking down at the chart she had that had a bunch of writing all over it. "we think he hasn't eaten much and we would've loved for him to eat before we reunite you two, but he refuses unless you're with him. Besides that, he has a few bruises that don't look too bad. He has a very small cut that we put some ointment on along with a bandage, but that's about it for his physical health."

"Okay," I say with a nod, feeling overwhelmed. He didn't eat much? Did Beckett feed him at all? It's been about 48 hours since he went missing, so did he even eat? I mean, Beckett must've known that food is something kids need a lot of, right? And bruises? Are you fucking kidding me? He accused me of abusing my child, but the second he gets his hands on him, he hurts him. "do you think... what do... what do you think caused the bruises?"

Dr. Ross's eyes soften before she lets out a small sigh. "Well, I can't be certain, but I do believe that the man that was holding him might've held him a bit too tight. Malakai was a bit wary while we examined him and from the way he acted, I do believe the bruises were intentional. It could've been to keep him in place or the man grabbing him, we don't know."

"Do you think that... he'll talk about it?" I ask in a soft voice, wondering what to expect from my child. Would he want to talk about it? About what happened while he was gone? Would he tell me what went on? I didn't know if I wanted to know or not. I didn't know if he, a three-year-old, would be up for talking about a traumatic event.

"He hasn't opened up to us so far. He's only answered a few questions here and there, so we're unsure. If he does, that's great. We definitely want him to talk about everything because keeping that inside won't do him any good. I do want to keep an eye on him and see what the treatment will be moving forward," she says to me with a smile that made me feel comfortable talking with her.

"Treatment?"

She nods her head with a serious look. "Whether I think he should have a few meetings with a child psychologist to open up about the events that have occurred. If he doesn't open up to you, then I think that's what we should do."

"Okay, if that's what you think is best, then absolutely," I tell her, completely trusting her judgment. She seemed good at her job, so I would take her advice moving forward. I would be stupid not to. Dr. Ross gives me a trusting smile before closing her folder and standing up.

"Great, then would you like to see him?"

I don't hesitate. I grab my crutches and haul myself onto my uninjured foot before making my way to the door. It was happening. I was going to see my son after two days of him being gone in an unknown place, being emotionally and physically abused. Don't get me wrong, I'm so excited to see my son, but at the same time, I'm nervous as fuck. He's definitely going to be changed because of this situation and I'm nervous to see how he will act the first time he sees me.

I follow Dr. Ross through the hallways in the hospital before we stand in front of the door still blocked by two police officers. My chest was starting to feel heavy when I stare at the door in front of us because I didn't know what to expect when we went through it. Would Kai be upset and closed-off? Would he be his same energetic self? The officers smile when they see me and go to open the door, but I quickly shake my head. "No, wait," I say and they all stop, turning to look at me. "I need a minute."

"Take all the time you need," Dr. Ross whispers to me, lowering her head to look at the ground to give me a private moment. The officers avert their eyes as well, looking around at all the people walking around on the floor we were currently on.

"Is there... is there anything I shouldn't do?" I whisper to Dr. Ross and she lifts her head to give me a soft smile.

"You know your son best and since he's a three-year-old, I know that he needs comfort right now. But at the same time, he's wary of people touching him. It could be strangers touching him and he might be perfectly fine with his family getting close to him, but we don't know that for sure. So definitely be wary of that. Watch his body language to see how he's reacting to everything and go from there. I'll be in the room until I know you two have adjusted to each other again, okay?" She tells me in a soft, supportive voice.

"Okay," I say before looking back at the door and letting out a deep breath. "I'm ready."

The officers look back at me with a questioning look and when I nod my head to confirm my statement, they grab the door handle and swing it open it for me. The room isn't that bright, probably because they didn't want to overwhelm Kai since he might've been in a dark place for the past two days and wasn't used to bright lighting just yet. I can hear talking in the room and when I hear my beautiful baby boy's voice, I almost cry with happiness that he's here. He's alive.

Dr. Ross walks in first and I follow afterward, wobbling slightly behind her. When I get passed the door that was blocking my view, I finally see the whole room. Sitting next to the hospital bed was a young looking woman in light green scrubs with a colorful top on covered in different animated characters. She had a bright smile on her face while she conversed with the child in the bed. My eyes immediately turn to look at Kai, who also has a bright smile plastered on while he spoke to the lady. He was wearing a slightly oversized white t-shirt that covered his entire body and I make a mental note to ask someone to go back to my apartment to pick him up some clothes.

His hair was slightly messed up and his eyes had tiny bags underneath them that showed me that he definitely needed to sleep. Who knows how many hours he actually got to sleep in the past two days and I needed to fix that. On his right wrist was a nasty looking bruise that made my heart sink and on his left ankle was a bandage covering the cut that Dr. Ross informed me about. But besides those two things, I saw no other physical wounds and I'm assuming his t-shirt was covering anything else that might be there.

The woman in the room looks up at me and her smile perks up when she sees who walked in. She looks back at Kai before pointing to me. "Look who's here."

Kai's head whips in my direction and I prepare myself for the worst. Would he absolutely hate me for not being able to protect him? For not finding him sooner? For him being with a bad man for two days? Would he scream? Cry? Kick? His eyes meet mine, his smile dropping a bit, but when he sees that it's me, he immediately perks up. He shoots to his feet on the bed before holding his arms out for me. "Daddy!"

I was definitely wrong. He had no negative reactions to seeing me and I should've known that. My lips lift into a smile and I rush over to him as fast as I can on my crutches. When he sees the things helping me walk and my thigh that looks a little thicker because of the bandage wrapped it, his smile drops lightly. But when I settle onto the bed and set my crutches down, he forgets all about that and throws himself into my arms. As soon as I wrap my arms around his tiny body, my eyes start to form big, fat tears that instantly leak down my face. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, Daddy," Kai whispers into my ear, his tiny arms wrapped around my neck. He was stepping lightly on my thigh, which made it ache, but I ignored it because he was here. My son was back in my arms and I didn't care that he was hurting me. I would take a thousand stabs for him if it meant it kept him safe.

After a few moments of holding him, I pull back slightly to look at his face. His smile hasn't left and his hazel eyes were filled with tears, obviously happy to be back. My hand cups his cheek before using my thumb to wipe away one of the streams of water rushing down his face. "Are you okay?"

He frowns a bit before looking down at his bandage that covered his ankle, pointing at it. Now that I was closer to him, I can see that he looked to be a bit dirty for some reason. His legs seemed to be coated in dirt, but not too much that I demand I give him a bath now. "It hurts."

"I know, buddy, but you have very good doctors here that are going to help it heal, okay?" I whisper to him, running my hand through his hair. He smiles before nodding eagerly, making my heart flutter at seeing him again. He puts a little more pressure on my thigh where he was standing and I couldn't hold back my wince.

Dr. Ross immediately steps up next to us and peeks around to look at Kai with a soft smile. "Hey, Kai, so do you see how Daddy's thigh is wrapped up?"

Kai looks down at my thigh that he was stepping on and instantly picks his foot off of it, probably becoming aware that it was hurt. His lip quivers a bit when he realizes that he was probably hurting it even more before looking up at the doctor and nodding his head. "Yes."

"Well, Daddy's going to be in a little pain for the next few weeks, so we have to be very careful of making sure to not hurt him, right? All that means is we can't touch it," she tells him in a soft voice, trying to sound as positive as possible.

I continue to run my hand through his hair, smiling when he turns his head to look at me. His lip was still quivering slightly and I make sure to continue brushing some of his hair out of his face to show him that he did nothing bad. "It's okay, buddy. You did nothing wrong, you didn't know."

"I'm sorry, Daddy," he whispers in a small voice, cowering in on himself a bit.

"It's okay," I tell him before picking him up and sitting him down on my other thigh that wasn't hurt. He instantly leans back against my chest, grabbing my hand and holding it between both of his. Dr. Ross smiles at the sight before walking over to a little table that held multiple pieces of paper along with some generic toys that they must've given Kai to play with.

"So, Kai," she says, getting his attention since he was focused on playing with my fingers. "how about you eat something? I bet your dad will get you anything you want."

I watch as Kai's smile widens before he looks up at me. I smile down at him to urge him to tell me what he wants because I'll literally get him anything. If he wants a five-course meal that's worth 500 dollars? Fuck it, I'll get it for him. He's been through hell and he deserves some food to comfort him. "Anything you want, buddy."

"Uh," he says in a soft voice, turning his head to think for a few minutes. He looks back up at me with a small smile that makes my chest ache at the sight. God, I've missed that smile. "can Mena make something for me?"

I smile down at him, using my free hand to run through his hair. "Of course she can. You know how much she loves cooking. Whatever you want, she'll make it for you."

He thinks for a few minutes before his eyes light up like a light bulb turned on in his head. "Can she make me... the, uh, the chicken?"

Even though he wasn't being specific, I knew exactly what he was talking about. "The chicken tenders?"

He nods eagerly, confirming what I had said. But then his smile falters and he lowers his head. Did I do something wrong? I look up at Dr. Ross and she gives me a supportive smile before looking back at Kai, letting him speak first. I tighten my grip on him before lightly rocking us back-and-forth since that always seems to make him feel comforted whenever he's upset or overwhelmed with anything. I go to say something, but he beats me to it. "Can I see 'em?"

"Who, buddy?" I ask in a soft voice, leaning down and pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

He thinks for a moment before tightening his grip on my hands. "Auntie Kadri and Mena, Grandma and Grandpa... and can see Air-ia too? He's nice."

I was shocked because I absolutely did not expect him to want to see Aria as well. I thought he would want to just see his family since those were the people that he was most familiar with, but I guess not. I guess with Aria hanging around so much before all of this happened has become ingrained in his routine and he wanted to stick to that, even if the circumstances were different now. I press another kiss to his head before looking up at Dr. Ross for confirmation. She smiles before nodding her head. "Of course you can, but I need you to do something for me, okay?"

Kai looks a bit wary but nods anyway. "Okay."

"If you start to feel bad or upset with everyone in here, you need to tell Daddy. We won't do anything that you don't want to, Kai," she says in a serious voice. Kai lifts his head to look at me to see what I thought about what she just said and I smile before nodding at him.

"You can tell me, buddy. We don't want you to feel bad by doing something that you don't like," I whisper, tightening my grip around him. Kai just nods his head before snuggling closer to my chest, letting his eyes fall back down to look at his hands wrapped around mine. Dr. Ross whispers something to the lady that was already in here when I came in and after a while, she leaves and Dr. Ross sits down in one of the chairs that were in the room. Instead of watching us like I expected her to do, she starts writing things on the clipboard she brought with her.

After a few minutes of us sitting like that, the door cautiously swings open before everyone starts coming in. Kadri looks extremely happy to see Kai and looks like she wants to hug him, but she was good and walks up slowly to not startle him. Everyone else does the same until the door closes and they all cautiously stand in front of us, probably not knowing what to do. My mom is the first to speak, waving her hand at him even though I know she desperately wants to hold him. "Hi, Kai!"

Kai looks up, finally realizing that everyone was here. And just like what happened when I came in, he holds his arms out for a hug from my mom. That seems to make her happy because she comes over with fast legs before wrapping her arms around her grandson. But everything turns bad when she moves a bit and it makes Kai think that she was taking him away from me. "No! Don't take me! Please, wanna stay with Daddy!"

I lightly push my mom away before wrapping my arm around Kai's waist and pulling him against my chest. His breathing was picking up and I could feel him lightly trembling against me. Dr. Ross steps forward before ushering everyone else in the room back while I press a kiss to the side of Kai's head. "You're okay, you're here. No one's going to take you away from me, okay? You're safe."

"Stay... with you," he whimpers before turning in my arms and sobbing into my chest. I hold him tight to my chest, rocking us lightly to calm him down even more. I glance up to see Kadri starting to come towards me, but I motion to her to stay where she is because I don't think Kai wants anyone else near him right now.

"You're okay. I'm not leaving you and no one's going to take you away again," I whisper into his ear before kissing his forehead. Dr. Ross stands a few feet away from us with a knowing look on her face while she writes someone on her clipboard, telling me Kai would definitely be going to therapy because it was clear his separation anxiety was going to get even worse after this traumatic event.

After a few more minutes of Kai crying into my chest, he pulls back while using his hands to wipe his wet eyes. I reach out and do it for him since he was still sniffling and his body was shaking. When he meets my eyes, I give him a supportive smile before ruffling his hair. I go to say something, but he beat me to it. "I sorry."

I shake my head at him, keeping that smile on my face to make him feel better. "You did nothing wrong, buddy. You're scared after what happened and that's okay. It's okay to be scared. We're going to work through that together, alright?"

He nods his head before turning around and looking back at the people in the room. He glances between them and me a few times before he gives me a pleading look. "Can I..."

"Do you want to try again?" I whisper, brushing some hair out of his face.

Kai nods his head with a strong smile on his face. I smile back because I know my little man is brave and somehow pushes through the fear sometimes and right now was no exception. He's being the strong boy that I've raised and I was proud of him. Strong or not, I would always be proud. I look up at my mom and she gives me an apologetic smile, even though this is definitely not her fault. There was no way we could've known he would've reacted that way.

I motion my mom over and she takes cautious steps before pulling Kai into another hug. She makes sure to not move too much and scare him again and I hope that he'll get over that eventually. But for right now, it was okay. He went through something traumatic, so of course, he would be affected in some way. After hugging my parents, Kadri, and Ximena, he glances at me before looking at Aria, who stood close to the door with a hesitant look on his face. Kai glances up at me again with a nervous look on his face, obviously wanting to ask me something. "Can I..."

He points to Aria, who lifts his head when he sees that and puts on a smile. I realize exactly what Kai wants so I nod, motioning Aria over. He walks over slowly, not wanting to startle the child that was still sitting on my lap. I press a kiss to Kai's head before picking him up and allowing him to stand on my uninjured thigh just like I did when he hugged everyone else. 

Aria's eyes widen slightly when Kai holds his arms out, probably shocked that he wanted a hug from him. But he doesn't hesitate because the next second, Aria's arms hold him tightly while Kai's wrap around my boyfriend's neck.

I watch as Aria's eyes open to look at me while he lightly rubs Kai's small back, allowing him to pull away when he wanted. I smile at my boyfriend before reaching out and running my hand over his cheek since no one else could see me right now. 

I watch my two boys embracing after such a traumatic event and I can't help when I get teary-eyed at the sight because not only did I get my son back after these horrid past few days, but he wanted my boyfriend as part of his life. My little boy was giving me everything I wanted and being the best son I could've ever asked for.

This would take time for all of us to heal from, but I had no problem with that. If Kai had to go to therapy sessions every day, so be it. If he wanted to sleep with me for the rest of his life, so be it. If he had to sleep with the lights on, so be it. Whatever he wanted and needed, I would do it. He's my main priority and I would do absolutely anything to keep him safe forever. Watching him pull back from Aria and plop down on my uninjured thigh again, I felt good. I felt positive that everything would be okay. We would be okay.