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carpehistoryandthepens · 1 year ago

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Legacy (what is a legacy?) Part 6

It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me

Hamilton, the world was wide enough. LMM.

one, two, three, four, Five

Summary: Mike is 13. Born May 2009. Sid didn’t know he had a son. All Mike had was hope and a prayer for his and his half-sister’s safety.

(Sid is a dad of a teen he didn’t know about AU) Sidgeno.

Warnings: (for the total story) post-child abuse (all off-screen but it affects things and is spoken about often), learning how to parent, panic attacks, anxiety, based on last season, OCs?, realization about sexuality. Post breakups. Desperate lack of in-depth research for CPS in both PA/CA, melodrama?, kidfic, angst, slowburn, playing fast and loose with the law for drama/storytelling purposes.

It takes a while, but Marisol chooses food for her and her brother. Sid makes sure that food is in normal hockey player portions. Mike makes sure that whatever wasn’t eaten was saved in reusable containers he had tucked into his gear bag.

Sid had stared at the containers. They were clean, but clearly well-used. Sid… had never known the food insecurity that the two kids apparently knew. With how both of them fell onto the food the moment Anthony brought the plates into the room, he said precisely how much they had been without steady food.

Sid stared at them as they ate. It was rude, but Sid didn’t honestly care. Sid… had a son.

Sid had a son.

Michael was Sid’s son.

There was no clear way to explain how Sid knew he had a son. Except for this kid, Michael was so clearly Sid’s. He was telling the truth here. And Sid was a father.

Oh, Jesus fucking christ.

Sid was a father.

And his son was fucking abused for the last six months.

Sid took a sudden but deep breath, causing Geno and Tanger to look at him sharply. Both of them gave a weary, tired look that Sid could ready from across the ice. He was not to freak out. The other parents' reminder that he now had different priorities, including not freaking out some kids – who Sid may or may not be related to – kept Sid from letting that deep breath.

Sid… would freak about this later. He had a few choices to make.

Ok then.

“What next, Helena?” Sid asked the care worker after carefully breathing out and controlling his reactions.

Helena sighed, looking at Micheal. “We need official proof if he’s yours or not. So, a DNA test will be best. The sooner, the better.”

That got both Jen’s and Anthony’s attention.

“Can UMPC do DNA tests?” Jen asked Anthony immediately. She started typing into her phone. “And if so, how fast?”

Sid smiled inwardly. Jen was their PR person from the heart. She had grown up with them, and Sid trusted her. Even though she was much higher in the organization now, she was still Sid’s go-to for all his PR needs.

Anthony considered, tilting his head to the side and reaching for his phone. “Normally, no. But I think we can swing it. Give me a moment to make a phone call.” He stepped out of the room, phone in hand. Sid could hear him talk to their main doctor at UPMC.

“A DNA test?” Michael asked, mouth full of the last food Marisol had ordered. In the corner, Sid heard Tanger hide a snort with a cough. Michael looked just like Sid did when he was at a team meal.

“We have to know, for sure. if you… if you are my son, you know?” Sid said slowly. That way, he could have all the legal resources. Sid was positive that Michael was his. The longer they spent in each other’s company, the more obvious it was. But… gut feelings weren’t admissible in court.

God, Sid was a fucking father.

Michael hummed in understanding. He went back to eating, but he was observing Sid.

Sid did his best to look back just as carefully. They were sizing each other up. Sid had no idea what to feel beyond shocked right now, but he hoped that whatever Michael was looking for, he saw it in Sid.

Helena observed them both; Sid did his best to ignore her, choosing to watch the room instead.

Jen was typing something into her phone rapidly – Sid suspected it was Sully, as the lunch break was about to finish, and the three players were soon due into the video room. Geno and Tanger entertained Marisol with some commentary about the food that made her giggle. Charlie was eating and making sure Marisol was eating more.

Sid was kind of taken with how sweet it sounded. A child’s laughter.

His... Well, not his daughter, but his son’s sister. Oh, God.

“UPMC can do it. But we won’t get the results for weeks, though. There is no way to get it faster.” Anthony said when he returned to the room a few minutes later. “We’re sending someone over now to get the tests.”

Sid and Jen pulled faces. It wasn’t ideal, but it would clearly have to do, Sid concluded to himself.

Helena, on the other hand, was nonplussed. “A few weeks? Normally, it takes months to get DNA tests.”

Anthony shrugged, “We work closely with UPMC.”

“Well then.” She said slowly, taking the timeframe in. “We can have a placement ready in a few hours for now.” She reached for her phone. “So after the tests, they will have a place to go.”

Sid felt everything in him freeze at that. “A placement?”

Michael went stiff. He slowly put the food in his hands down to the plate. All of his attention was focused on Helena. Sid was glad Marisol was distracted by Tanger and Charlie.

“Yes,” Helena said. “A placement. They will need a place to stay for the time being.”

“We’re not staying with….?” Michael trailed off, looking between Sid and Helena. He looked so young. Sid thought the rookies and prospects always looked young now, but Michael was a child and should not be so scared or uncertain.

Sid felt there was no way in hell that he would let the kids be given to a foster family. Not when he could do something about it. “They can stay with me!” Sid said, jumping to his feet.

Most of the room, including Tanger but not Geno, stared at him in surprise, but this was something that Sid was sure of. He was going to take care of his kids.

Or maybe. His kid? Or not at all.

Either way. Sid could do something about their situation, and damnit. He was going to do it. He might be under-prepared, but damnit. He was not letting them go!

Geno was the only one who looked approving. Geno had Sid’s back at all times.

“I’m not sure, Mr. Crosby, that would be a good idea,” Helena said frankly. She stared him down; she was about four inches shorter than Sid was, even in her practical heels. But she glared at him better than most players could do across the face-off dot. “If you aren’t the father, it would complicate things.”

“I don’t care,” Sid said. “Even if I’m not his father, I would still want to help.”

Helena sighed, frustrated. She really was trying to put the kids first, and Sid appreciated that, but he had the money, the space, and the ability to do something about their situation.

Sid might be jumping into this, but damnit. Michael was definitely his kid. Sid had no real idea why he knew that, but he knew.

“Do I get a say?” Michael asked, raising his hand to get their attention. He had polished off two burritos and had a half-eaten burrito still in his hand.

“You do,” Helena said immediately - which Sid approved of - before following it up with: “But you must know that sometimes, we can’t follow what you want to happen.” Sid did not like the sound of that.

“I know.” Michael looked at the floor and spoke to his shoes, sounding defeated and tired. He put the food down on the plate. “Then… I don’t want to go to a placement. I don’t want Marisol to go to a placement.”

“Look. I do not doubt you, Michael,” Helena said, making Michael look up from the floor with such concentration that it reminded Sid of his own expression while practicing a skill he didn’t have down. “But if you’re wrong, or your mother was wrong, it would make it harder for you emotionally to move on. If you’re not with a placement. I’m just trying to look out for you.”

Jen reached into her pocket for her phone. After a moment, she flipped the phone around to Helena. Sid could get a glance of the image: it was one from when Sid was young; he was holding Taylor, and she might have been about three or four.

They just looked like Mike holding Marisol, only their coloring was different. Mike really did just look like Sid. Marisol didn’t have a passing resemblance to Taylor, but the position was too similar to one that the siblings were in to miss the similarity.

Helena looked at the photo long and hard, eyes going back and forth between Sid, Michael, and the image a few times before she nodded.

“Ok. I see why you are so insistent, Mr. Crosby,” she said after a moment. “Both of the photos I’ve seen, you look very alike. But I need to know a few things before I can even start the placement. And then, you’re not the final decision.”

Sid had a feeling the questions she was about to ask. But the rapid-fire inquiries about his home, the space he lived in, his daily schedule, what he ate, and if he had cared for any children before were still a surprise. Helena was through.

Sid did his best to answer as truthfully as he could. Making notes mentally, he would have to get a nanny, and one of the bedrooms would have to be adapted to a smaller person. Marisol and Michael didn’t seem like they wanted to spend a lot of time apart from each other, but while none of his guest bedrooms were set up like that, it would take only a few moments to fix that.

Sid had money. And he didn’t mind spending it on this. Helena wasn’t entirely happy with Sid’s answers but wasn’t saying no.

After a lot of questions about his home and life, Helena pulled a face at how many times Sid would be gone overnight. Sid had a knot form in his stomach. Sid would be heartbroken if the basic answers about his life were enough to disqualify him.

He didn’t know what it meant when the one wish he had in his life that he couldn’t get through hard work and determination was handed to him, but Sid would be distraught if he couldn’t help Michael.

She fell silent, staring at him intently. Then, after a moment, when Sid was pretty sure that Helena was about thirty seconds from tearing into him for being under-prepared.

Sid opened his mouth to continue to talk – about what Sid didn’t know – but, instead, Helena cut him off, turning to Michael, “Michael. Are you ok with this? If he isn’t your father, are you ok going with him now?” She asked.

There was an instant when Michael didn’t respond, and Sid’s entire being told him what he wanted Michael to say. He wanted a yes. Sid wanted Michael to say yes so badly. Even more than he wanted to skate, it felt like.

But at the same time, it was Michael’s choice.

It was always going to be his choice.

“... Yes. I want us to go with Sid.” Michael said.

The relief that swapped Sid was short-lived, sadly. Michael didn’t sound enthusiastic at all. He sounded scared. Sid stopped himself from asking if Michael was sure.

This was an overwhelming situation, Sid reminded himself. The kid was tired. Safe for the first time in months, it sounded like he was still worried about everything. Michael wouldn’t be the typical giddy hockey teen with whom Sid interacted regularly.

Helena nodded, “Ok then, I will get that set up Mr. Hernandez…,” she said formally, “Do you have any of your paperwork? Things like birth certificates or medical records?”

Michael pointed at the hockey bag in the corner of the room. Sid didn’t think it was filled with gear, even though it was full, “I have all my paperwork. I have most of Marisol’s. Birth certificates, and our socials. My passport. Whatever Papi had of our medical records.”

“Can I have copies of them?” Helena asked.

Michael eyed her suspiciously. “Just copies, right? They are the only paperwork we have. And I don’t want you to talk to my aunt.”

Helena grimaced. “I don’t think we can avoid talking to your aunt if you want to stay away permanently. But we’ll review the information for the investigation soon if that is all right with you?”

Michael blinked, “Investigation?”

Sid echoed Michael’s question. “What investigation?”

Helena sighed, sounding exasperated for the first time in the conversation. “Yes, an investigation. We at CPS can’t just move kids around without the law being involved. So we don’t have to have a conversation now,” she reassured a suddenly worried Michael, “But we do need to talk very soon.”

“Will that allow me… or someone to keep the kids together?” Sid asked. He went over the next day in his head; he had some time in the afternoon, especially if he moved the meeting with Sully to before practice. Sid felt that Helena’s ‘very soon’ meant ‘right now, but there are upset children here.’

“Well, hopefully,” Helena said clearly, not trying to promise things. “I’m not going to promise any results. But an investigation must happen.”

“Don’t send us back,” Michael said, a note of sudden panic in his voice. He looked between Sid and Helena desperately. “We’ll run away again if we’re sent back.”

Helena met his eyes evenly. “I can’t make promises about the results of the investigation. But I can promise we will do one and make your and your sister’s safety the number one priority.”

Michael stared at her for a long moment before accepting her words with a nod, apparently past words.

“Mr. Crosby.” Helena addressed Sid, “You will need a lawyer if Michael is yours. To keep him and his sister. A very good one.”

Sid was suddenly very grateful he already had a call with Brisson happening this afternoon. First, to make sure of things. Because he was confident that his agent would have words with him about this.

But his agent would also know someone or at least know of someone who could help them.

Michael looked at Sid, and Sid stared back. Both of them sizing each other up.

Sid realized he had never actually Sid he wanted Michael to stay.

“I get a good lawyer, then,” Sid said.

Michael’s face melted into relief. He smiled. It was small, but it was real. It was the first time Sid had seen Michael smile.

#'sid has a teen he didn't know about' au #sidgeno #8771 #i write?#this will take a while to write #working title: Legacy (what is a legacy?)

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