The Good and the Bad

The Price We Pay

Chapter Thirty-One

*~*~*~*

"H-I-J-O. Hijo." Diego spelt as Gaby pulled her car up in front of the precinct. Antonio turned around in his seat to look at where Diego sat in the back with Scout and DJ-- his parents having offered to keep Maclean for the day while Gaby and Matt spent it with the older boys and Eva was with Laura.

"No, not like 'son,' you. Like sun in the sky," Antonio clarified his previous question. Over the last few months he had started getting on his children more about learning Spanish, something that had started rub off on the older Wheeler boy as well.

"Oh. S-O-L. Sol," Diego corrected himself.

"That's what I'm talking about," Antonio gave the boy a fist bump before looking at his godson. "How about you, DJ? What's cat?"

"G-A-T-O. Gato," DJ grinned from ear to ear as he spelt the word Antonio had taught him the previous weekend.

"Awesome," Antonio nodded, fist bumping him too before turning his attention to the boy's mother. "Their Spanish is already better than yours."

"Bene, baciami il culo." Scout offered the man a sarcastic smile.

"I don't know what you said, but I'm guessing you owe money to the swear jar." Gaby looked at the other woman through the rearview mirror.

"Swear jar. Funny," Scout chuckled at the idea. She pressed a kiss to the top of her son's head before reaching over him to ruffle the Dawson boy's hair. "Love you guys."

"We'll see you guys later," Antonio told the boys as he and Scout both started to climb out of the car.

"See you, Dad," Diego offered his father another smile.

"Stay safe you two!" Gaby called after the pair before she drove off. As they headed towards the front steps of the precinct they were greeted by the sight of Voight standing there, his hands tucked into his pockets.

"Hey," the older man nodded in greeting to his detectives. "How's Diego doing?"

"A nightmare every now and then. Otherwise, great," Antonio shrugged, watching as his sister's car disappeared around the corner. "I think Laura and I probably think of it more than he does."

"Well, kids are resilient," Voight chuckled.

"I'll see you guys inside." Scout patted Antonio on the arm before she headed inside, leaving the men behind. Voight watched the woman slip inside before he spoke again.

"Hey, you've known Keltner for a while, right?" Voight asked once the door closed behind the woman, ensuring she wouldn't be able to hear him.

"Since we were kids. Her and Gaby were in the same grade," Antonio nodded. "Why?"

"What do you know about her old man?" Voight answered with another question.

"Guy was a cop. Not home much while she was growing up." Antonio gave a shrug of his shoulders as he tried to think back to when the Keltner man had still been around in his daughter's life. "Skipped out on Scout and her mom when he found out she'd been cheating on him. Last I heard he was working somewhere in New York, but Scout hasn't heard from him since he left. How come?"

"He's not in New York anymore," Voight informed him.

"Wait, he's here?" Antonio's brows furrowed. "Since when?"

"For a few months now," Voight shared. "Apparently he was the one behind her needing a psych eval before she could come back after the Pulpo case."