I want to fly like an eagle, to the sea
Fly like an eagle
Let my spirit carry me
I want to fly, oh, yeah
Fly right into the future

--"Fly Like an Eagle," Seal

Blake and Ted were getting ready for work the next morning when Ted asked, "Were you planning to visit the baby before your shift starts?"

Blake smiled. "Yeah. Do you want to come with me?"

Blake and Ted later walked to the NICU together. The nurse named Candace that Blake spoke with the previous morning let him and his husband into the unit.

They went over to see the little boy.

"Aww," Ted cooed. "He's adorable."

"Yes, he is," Blake agreed.

"Do you want to hold him?" Nurse Candace asked Blake.

"You mean, I...? Of course," Blake answered happily.

Nurse Candace pulled a chair over and indicated for Blake to sit. She carefully picked up the baby boy, who was wrapped in a black and gold Pittsburgh Penguins blanket.

"The team donated a ton of these to us," Nurse Candace said about the blanket as she placed the baby in Blake's arms.

Blake looked at the baby in awe. Although he had held his other nieces and nephews before, it felt extra special this time, with this special baby.

"Hey, little guy," Blake said to the bundle in his arms. He couldn't help but tear up a bit.

"How's he doing?" Ted asked Nurse Candace about the baby, who was sleeping.

"Very well," she said. "The doctor will probably release him before dinnertime."

"Really?" Blake asked, hoping after a good night of sleep that Heather would finally come around and accept this beautiful boy into her life.

"I was surprised to see him still in here when I came on at six this morning. I thought he'd be in his mother's room, but I heard that she went home yesterday."

Blake gave the nurse a weak smile, not wanting to talk about his family drama with her.

"I'll leave you to bond," she said before going to check on another baby.

Ted pulled another chair over and sat down.

"Do you want to hold him?" Blake asked his husband.

Ted shook his head. "He looks very comfortable with you."

The two of them sat together, watching the baby sleep.

Ted looked at his watch a few minutes later. "I need to get to work."

"Yeah, me too," Blake said before kissing the baby on his forehead. "I'll see you later, handsome boy. Just know that even if your mommy doesn't accept you as you are, I do. You'll always have me in your corner. You're perfect. I love you."

Ted's chest tightened as he watched his husband with the baby and listened to his words.

Blake received a text message from his mother that afternoon simply stating, "The baby is being released." He told his supervisor he needed to leave early for a family issue before rushing across the hospital campus to the women's hospital.

He found his mother arguing with an older man outside the nursery, with his father standing nearby. Nurse Candace was holding the baby, who was bundled up in a blue body suit. Heather was nowhere to be seen.

"Why can't we just take him to his mother?" Carol impatiently said to the man.

"Once again, ma'am, we can't release the child to anyone other than his mother or father," the man sternly answered her.

"What's going on?" Blake asked. "Where's Heather?"

The man turned to him. "And you are?"

"This is the baby's father," Carol claimed, pointing at Blake.

Blake's mouth popped open. "What? No, I'm not!"

"My God, Carol," Stan said, rubbing his face with his hands in disbelief.

"I'm his uncle!" Blake said.

The man narrowed his eyes at Carol. "Ma'am, did you just lie to me about who this child's father is?"

Carol looked around guiltily. "I... I'm sorry, I just want to take the baby home, is all. I thought that-"

Blake got between the man and his mother before she could get herself into any more trouble. "Look, sir, I'm Blake Wyzecki, and you are?"

"Dr. Phillip Owens, I'm the director of the women's hospital," the man answered, shaking Blake's hand firmly.

"Dr. Owens, it's been a very rough couple of days for my family," Blake began to explain. "My nephew was born with Down syndrome, which was a shock to all of us, especially to his mother. I don't know where she is right now..."

Blake looked at his mother to fill in the blank.

"She's at home," Carol said. "She refused to come with us to take the baby home."

Blake shook his head at his sister's insolence. "Anyway, Doctor, can't one of us sign the baby out on behalf of his mother? I mean, she lives with my parents and they're both right here. His father isn't in the picture. If it helps at all, I actually work here at the hospital as an addiction specialist."

"Is the mother over the age of eighteen?"

"Yes," Blake answered.

"Unless the mother has a legitimate reason for being unable to come and claim the baby herself, such as a physical disability, we cannot allow anyone to remove a minor child from our hospital," Dr. Owens calmly explained. "Is there any reason why Ms. Wyzecki cannot take the baby home herself?"

"No." Blake wracked his brain. "Can't... can't someone like, be named as a temporary guardian of the baby, and then that person-"

"You would have to file something with the court in order to do that, but that won't solve our immediate problem. We have no medical reason to keep the baby here any longer. Unfortunately, this is not the first newborn we've had abandoned at our hospital. Our only option at this point is to call Human Services and have the baby placed with a foster family until his mother decides what she wants to do."

"No!" Carol said, breaking into tears. "You can't do that! Don't we have rights as grandparents?"

"I'm not a lawyer, I don't know." Dr. Owens turned to the nurse. "Candace, please take the baby to the nursery for the time being. I'll call Human Services and have someone come to get him."

"Doctor, please!" Carol cried out.

Stan put his arm around his wife's shoulders. "Honey, they have no choice here."

Nurse Candace looked at Blake sadly before she walked away with the baby and the doctor retreated to his office.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Blake asked his parents, referring of course to Heather.

Carol took a tissue out of her purse to dry her eyes. "We told her they might not let us take the baby home."

"And what did she say?"

Carol just shook her head while her husband stared blankly at the floor.

"What, she didn't even care? Do you think she'll care that her son will be going home with strangers tonight?"

Blake didn't wait for an answer and instead went outside to his car. He called Ted on his way out to let him know what was going on.

He got to his parents' house soon after. He tried to open the front door, but it was locked. He then let himself in with his key.

"Heather!" he yelled as he headed toward the living room.

Blake found his youngest sibling sitting on the couch watching a rerun of Friends.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Why didn't you come to the hospital?"

Heather sighed as she turned the TV off with the remote. "I... I just can't do this."

"Do what?"

Heather stared at the remote in her hand. "This is all your fault."

"Excuse me?" Blake asked, his anger increasing by the second.

"If I hadn't come to you when I found out I was pregnant, none of this would have happened!" she said to him, standing up to speak to him eye to eye.

Blake looked at his sister in shock but waited silently for her to continue.

"I should have just gotten an abortion like I wanted to and then none of us would be here! I'd be going to dental school like I was supposed to and he would never have been born!"

Blake had to turn away and walk to the other end of the room, unable to look at her. "I can't believe you can be so heartless, so selfish," he said while looking at a family portrait hanging above the fireplace. The picture had been taken when Blake was seventeen and Heather was only four.

He then turned back to look at his sister, who felt like a stranger to him at that moment. "This isn't his fault. It's no one's fault that he was born like this, but it's especially not his fault. I've watched you over these past few months. You've seemed so happy to be having this baby, but then after he's born and he's not the perfect baby you envisioned, you don't want him anymore."

"I never wanted this baby!" Heather yelled. "I only had him because everyone else wanted me to have him. We're Catholic, so Mom and Dad would have never forgiven me if I decided to get an abortion after I told them I was pregnant. Nolan didn't even suggest it; he only said, ‘Do whatever you want to do.' I guess this is what I get for being a follower all my life. Well, I'm not doing it anymore."

Before Blake could ask her what she planned to do with the baby now, Carol and Stan walked through the door. Carol told Heather that a social worker was coming to take the baby.

Heather shrugged. "Well, maybe that's for the best."

"How can you say such a thing?" Carol tearfully asked. "That's your son! My grandson! How can you let a bunch of strangers take him away?"

Mother and daughter verbally sparred for a couple of minutes before Ted rang the doorbell. Blake let him in and spoke with him in the foyer.

"Heather doesn't want the baby and she blames me for stopping her from aborting him in the first place," Blake told him.

Ted looked baffled. "What, just because he has Down syndrome? Lots of kids have it, it's not the end of the world."

Blake looked his husband in the eye. "Would you want a kid with Down syndrome?"

"I..." Ted thought about it for a beat. "I would be happy to have any kid. Babies are a gift, no matter what. They're not something you throw away like a piece of trash just because they're not born exactly the way you hoped."

Blake gave Ted a small smile before walking back into the living room. Now all three of them - Heather, Carol, and Stan - were yelling at each other.

"When are you going to grow up?" Stan asked his daughter.

Heather scoffed. "Oh, as if you've ever urged me to! You guys have always treated me like a child!"

"Well, you have a child, so now you need to stop acting like one!" Carol yelled back.

"Hey!" Blake yelled, silencing his quarreling family members.  

The three of them looked back at Blake.

"Ted and I want to adopt the baby," he announced to the room.

A look of relief came over Heather's face. "Really?"

"Are you sure?" Carol asked, looking at Blake and Ted.

Stan, who had never exactly been crazy about having a gay son, kept his mouth shut.

Blake then looked over at his husband. Ted appeared to be a bit surprised by Blake's announcement.

"Well... Ted and I..." Blake began, waiting to see if Ted was going to say anything. "We've talked about having kids, but we've been waiting until I was finished with school and got a job. Now I have my degree and a job I love."

"The timing is perfect," Ted finally said.

Blake smiled at his husband, silently asking himself if he'd ever loved that man as much as he did at that moment.

When they got home, Blake started dinner while Ted called Melanie in Toronto.

"So..." Ted began to say after their initial hellos. "Did anyone tell you that Blake's little sister Heather was having a baby?"

"Someone may have mentioned it," Melanie answered.

"Well," Ted said before chuckling. "She had the baby Monday night. When he came out, they noticed that he had the characteristics of Down syndrome."

"Oh no," Melanie said.

"Yeah, they're waiting on the results of the genetic test, but the doctors are certain he has it. Anyway, long story short, Heather decided she doesn't want the baby, and Blake and I decided that we do."

Melanie was silent for a few moments before she started laughing. "Holy shit! That was kind of sudden."

"Yeah," Ted agreed. "Anyway, the baby is with foster care right now, but hopefully he'll end up with us soon. In the meantime, we don't know what we should do, as far as getting the whole adoption started."

"Can you get onto your computer?"

Ted walked into their home office and logged into the desktop computer. Melanie instructed him to send her one dollar through Paypal.

"Alright, I got it. I'm now your lawyer. Luckily I still have my Pennsylvania law license."

"Okay, great, thanks," Ted said.

"I'll file the papers electronically in the morning, petitioning for you and Blake to have temporary guardianship. My guess is that social services will contact Heather soon to ask her what she wants to do. If she's serious about doing this, she needs to sign the Termination of Parental Rights papers before the baby can legally be put up for adoption. This will be what's called a kinship adoption, which is when an immediate family member adopts a child. They're usually pretty simple proceedings since the court will agree that it's in the best interest of the child to be adopted within the family."

"That's great."

"Only..." Melanie said, hesitation in her voice. "You may run into a problem with your criminal conviction."

"What... oh, shit," Ted said, remembering his felony conviction for Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor back in 2003, stemming from unknowingly having a seventeen-year-old work for him on his porn site. "I'd forgotten all about that. I mean, I didn't forget, it's just not something I think about."

"Does Blake have anything on his criminal record?"

Ted got up and walked into the kitchen. "Honey, you don't have any criminal convictions you forgot to tell me about, do you?"

Blake laughed. "Uh, no, apart from a couple of speeding tickets."

"I tell you all the time to slow the fuck down... no, Mel, he's clean."

"Okay, so along with the guardianship petition, I'll also file a petition to have your felony expunged. It's been almost a decade since then and you haven't been in any other trouble. Hopefully the court grants it, otherwise they may not grant the guardianship petition and you won't be able to adopt."

Ted sighed and closed his eyes, kicking himself for being so negligent before. That conviction became the catalyst for his drug usage, which nearly destroyed his life. He hoped that part of his past was completely behind him, but it was now coming back to bite him in the ass.

"Teddy, you should try to gather up people who can be good character witnesses and vouch for you. You'll need to prove to the court that you have reformed, that you are a responsible person who can be trusted with the care of a child. I hate to say it but start with Brian, since he's your employer. He has a clean record and is one of the A-Gays of Pittsburgh. Justin, Emmett, and Drew would be good, too."

"That's a great idea," Ted agreed.