1. Chapter 1 (1/2)

hello, fellow closer fans! i've been watching the show for the past few years on and off, and this is my first stab at writing a fanfiction story (though not my first idea). this idea came to me while watching the charlie episodes. it falls somewhere in the timeline of maternal instincts, and follows the thought that

enda can't have a child of her own. enjoy!

disclaimer: not mine!

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how had they gotten to this point?

enda johnson leaned against the wall, physically and emotionally drained. the past thirty-six hours had taken an enormous toll on everyone involved.

just seven short months ago, fritz had talked her into keeping her niece charlie with them for the summer. to say that things hadn't gone according to plan was putting it very lightly. a few days after the death of a shooting victim charlie had grown attached to, she went to her aunt and uncle and told them something no one had expected.

she was pregnant.

in that instant, everyone's lives had been turned upside down. her parents refused to take her back, and her grandparents were reluctant to take her in. they had struggled enough when she was a moody teenager. there was no way they could handle a moody, pregnant teenager. but despite the revelation, fritz refused to even consider sending her anywhere else. they couldn't give up on her, too.

enda felt her husband come up behind her, and she welcomed his familiar em

ace. "how's she doing?" she murmured, snuggling into his chest.

fritz kissed the top of his wife's head. "as good as can be expected. so is the baby."

enda nodded. she and fritz had spent most of the past thirty six hours by charlie's side, watching as she labored to deliver her first child. she could still hear charlie's screams, mixed with the doctor's triumphant cry, "it's a girl!"

"she wants to see you."she stiffened against him. "fritzy…"

"at least hear her out,

enda."

she didn't have to hear charlie out. she knew exactly what charlie, along with the entire family, was thinking. and she was hesitant about it. but she finally let fritz pull her back into the maternity ward room, where their niece was resting comfortably.

at the intrusion, charlie stirred. "aunt

enda?"

enda came closer to the bed. "i'm here, sweetie." even though she was upset with the girl's choices, she still loved her. "i just saw your baby? she's-"

charlie shook her head. "i don't wanna know," she whispered. she didn't want to form any kind of connection with the baby.

"charlie…"

"aunt

enda, please." charlie met

enda's eyes. "i'm sixteen. i can't raise a baby. but you and uncle fritz…"

"you're her mother."

"so? i only had her because my family doesn't believe in abortion. they want me to give her up for adoption. but if you take her, you'll finally have a baby." she hadn't been so self involved that she missed her aunt's longing for a child. "you'll love her, and she'll be happy with you."

"you don't think she'd be happy with you?"

"i don't think i'm ready to be a mother."

enda

eathed deeply. she would not deny that she was desperate for a baby, and this seemed like a too perfect solution for all involved. she and fritz would adopt the baby, and charlie could return to a semi-normal life, finish school, and move on. but there were so many questions. she'd just given birth. what if she wasn't thinking rationally? but that wasn't the case. she had