Disclaimer- I own nothing I wish I did but I just get to play with the characters
A Trip to the Zoo
"What do you mean we can't talk to Alan Morgan? He's our main suspect" Gerry cried. The UCOS team had been working on the murder case of Terrance Peabody and the three men had focused in on Alan Morgan, a rich businessman who was once business partners with Peabody.
"You three pushed too hard and he complained to his friend the assistant commissioner, now we have been ordered to back off until we have solid proof. That means you stay away." Sandra told them firmly. She knew their track record for following orders was spotty and she was determined to keep control of them this time.
"But Sandra-"
"This isn't coming from me" she reminded Gerry sternly as she glared at him. "I told you to be delicate, Alan Morgan is a well-respected member of the business community, very influential and clearly he has friends in high places. I warned you but no you three went for the heavy-handed approach. Now you have to deal with the consequences." She told them, her arms crossed in front of her as she moved her glare from Gerry to Jack and Brian.
"Can't you talk to Strickland, sweet talk him a little? Get him to change his mind?" Gerry suggested desperately.
"Let me get this straight you are asking me to go up there and sweet talk my partner, the father of my daughter, all because you three where complete idiots?" She yelled at him, she was surprised Gerry would even ask such a stupid question.
"Yes that was exactly what we were thinking." Brian replied, he didn't seem to catch on to her sarcasm and anger.
"No! The answer is no. I have to go up there as it is and promise him you will not talk to Morgan again. And there will be no sweet talk involved. Now I expect you three to find something useful. Get me proof Morgan did it or find me a new suspect. Do you understand?" She yelled, they all nodded looking at the floor appearing to be sufficiently chastised. Satisfied she stormed out of the room as the men sat down at their desks. They were quiet for a while, the only sound was Brian typing on his computer.
"What are we going to do now?" Gerry cried out breaking the silence.
"We'll have to find some proof" Jack sighed in frustration.
"How exactly are we going to do that Jack? We tried and came up with nothing. Our only option was to get a confession out of him." Gerry reminded him disgusted at the short leash they had been put on.
"Well we can't get a confession if we can't talk to him." The other replied dryly he was beginning to really hate this case.
"Exactly" Gerry exclaimed throwing his arms up in the air.
"Or we could go talk to him" Brian told them leaning back in his chair and putting his hands behind his head, a smug look on his face.
"Brian weren't you listening to Sandra? We can't" Jack said exasperated.
"But if we happened to go to a children's Halloween party at the zoo hosted by Alan Morgan and we accidently bumped into him who could blame us?" Brian suggested to them with a grin.
"How are we going to do that? I think we will stand out" Jack questioned him while rolling his eyes at the suggestion.
"Not if we went with a child" Brian pointed out.
"Where are we going to get a child? Gerry jr is in school" Gerry sighed. Brian just looked at them and smiled.
"Oh no Brian I don't think that's a good idea. Sandra won't like at all." Jack replied nervously beginning to understand the full extent of Brian's.
"She won't know" Brian countered.
"She is going to find out, Alex can't keep a secret" Jack reminded him.
"Wait you want to use Alex?" Gerry asked finally catching on to Brian's scheme. "Won't she need a costume?"
"She has one Ester says she won't take it off a nice tiger suit apparently. She will fit right in at the zoo and I already signed her up." He informed them continuing to smile.
"What are we going to tell Ester?" Jack asked still worried about this plan.
"You are going to tell her it is a favor to Sandra so she can have the afternoon to herself. You know how Alex likes the zoo and Ester will believe us if you tell her Jack." Gerry spoke up quickly jumping on board with Brian's idea.
"Brian I don't know about this" Jack sighed he knew there was no way they would get away with this scheme.
"It's perfect Jack" Gerry told him. "If we get Morgan to confess Sandra can't be mad at us."
"Wanna bet?" the other man grumbled.
"Come on we got to be quick it starts at two" Brian added.
"It's awfully quiet down here where are those three?" Robert Strickland asked as he entered the UCOS office with Sandra.
"I have no idea and you know what, just for right now I don't care" she answered leaning against the sofa.
"You told them to stay away from Morgan?" he asked suspiciously.
"Yes for the hundredth time I told them, I yelled at them, I threatened them. I said they had to find proof or find a new suspect." She informed him frustrated that he didn't believe her.
"And there was no hidden approval for them to go do it anyway?" He questioned her clearly till suspicious as he knew how the three men could be.
"No I swear, they even asked me to try and sweet talk you" she informed him.
"And what did you say to that?" he inquired amused.
"I said no. I save sweet talk for the bedroom or if I want a massage or I want you to make dinner or give Alex a bath or-" she told him with a grin and he cut her off.
"I get the picture" he laughed. "So why exactly are you so willing to go along with this enforced ban on talking to Morgan?" He asked still suspicious of her motives.
"Because I don't believe he did it" she told him firmly.
"You don't?" he questioned as it was not the answer he expected.
"No never did and when those three finally move past Alan Morgan then we might actually manage to find out who did." She huffed slightly annoyed, the men had refused to listen when she suggested any other suspect, their tunnel vison on Morgan was wasting her time.
"I see, so you're not concerned where they currently are?" he asked looking around the empty office.
"Oh no I am very concerned but at this point what can I do but enjoy the nice quiet office, try and solve this murder and yell at them when they get back? If they are up to something, which they most likely are, they won't answer if I ring them." She informed him, she had learned over the years that she couldn't control them when they pulled one of their stunts.
"Well since you have a minute can we talk about Halloween?" he asked.
"What about Halloween?" she asked confused. She didn't know there was any issue with the 31st of October.
"Do we have to take Alex trick or treating?" he moaned, he did not like the idea of traipsing around all night with a quickly tiring child.
"Seriously?" she countered in disbelief. "Yes we do, she listened to her big brother Rufus talk about it all last weekend. And then there is the whole candy issue" she reminded him with a pointed look.
"I said I was sorry" he sighed.
"Well because you introduced her to candy she is now insisting on going trick or treating. She keeps asking about it every morning." She informed him with a satisfied smirk.
"Fine, what about that cat outfit?" he asked moving on to his next complaint.
"You mean her tiger suit?" she corrected him laughing a little.
"Yes" he replied irritate.
"What about it?" she asked ignoring his frustration.
"She won't take it off" he cried confused how she could possibly have missed the fact that their daughter refused to wear anything else.
"I know, I tried for an hour last night" she reminded him far less concerned with the issue than he was.
"What if she doesn't take it off?" he asked.
"She will, she always does plus it will fall apart eventually and she will move on to something else." She told him shaking her head, this was not the first time their daughter had formed an attachment to a piece of clothing or toy. Until recently she had been permanently attached to a small blanket with the head and arms of Peter Rabbit connected to it that went by the name of blanky.
"Yes I suppose you are right. You sure you want to enjoy the peace and quiet alone because I'm sure we could find another way to enjoy the empty office?" He asked suggestively griming at her making it very clear what he wanted to do to pass the time.
"As much as I like the offer the last time we did that we almost got caught. And you know I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow to get a new birth control implant put in. When I failed to do that the last time we ended up with a daughter and I love her very much but I have rather enjoyed finally sleeping through the night again. Therefore, the answer is not and don't you have a meeting in fifteen minutes?" she inquired.
"Fifteen minutes is more than enough time for a quick one" he grinned again.
"Go now" she laughed pointing towards the door.
"Okay fine I love you" he said kissing her.
"I love you too see you later" she returned the kiss and then pushed him toward the door.
Sandra knew Robert Strickland had never expected to be a father again at his age. Yet to her surprise he was thrilled at the idea when she had told him she was pregnant. He couldn't help but feel he had been given a second chance, after he had missed so much of Hermione and Rufus early years. And while he had been doing his hardest to make up for all the time he missed there was still no way he could get that lost time back with his two older children. He had made a promise to himself before Alex was born that he would do better this time around. He would try his very best to be there as much as he could. Of course both he and Sandra missed things while they were at work that was unavoidable. But they both did their best to leave work at a decent hour so they could spend some quality time with their daughter. They were the small little family she never knew she wanted.
Shaking away her thoughts she walked into her office and sat down in her chair. She picked up a nearby file letting out a sigh of enjoyment. It was nice to have a quiet office every once in a while. She was determined to try her hardest to enjoy this before the guys came back. She knew they were up to something and whatever it was she wasn't going to like it.
"Well at least now we know Alan Morgan didn't do it" Jack sighed as they walked back into the building a few hours later.
"Why didn't he just tell us all that stuff with the girl when we first talked to him?" Gerry grumbled back. They had spent three days trying to pin this murder on Morgan only to discover he had an alibi the whole time.
"He didn't want to admit to the affair" Brian told him happy their afternoon trip had paid off.
"Uncle Jack I no feel good" The little girl in Jack's arms moaned. He set the child down and looked her over.
Alexandra Strickland was a mini copy of her mother. Her piercing blue eyes looked up at him for help and he was suddenly afraid she was going to cry. She was dressed head to toe in a furry tiger suit complete with ears fitted to a hood that covered her head. Blond hair was popping out from the hood and Jack realized the loose hair was wet from sweat and matted against her face. He put his hand to her forehead, it was lined with sweat but not overly warm, she was more clammy than hot.
"You do look a little green around the gills" he commented concerned about her condition.
"Fishes have gills not people" she sighed sternly making a frustrated face that once again reminded him of her mother.
"You're right how silly of me." The toddler was very smart and exceedingly precocious another trait that clearly came from her mother. And like Sandra Pullman she could be fiercely stubborn, the only person she was guaranteed to listen to was her mother.
Alex was rarely called by her full name of Alexandra, and when it happened it was usually because her father was upset with her. In the beginning one of the three men, usually Gerry, would use the name simply to annoy Sandra. The toddler's mother had not been sold on the name but all the men in her life convinced her to agree to the name 'Alexandra' during the initial period of bliss right after the baby had been born. Sandra always called her daughter Alex and therefore everyone did as well. Most people therefore thought the girl's name simply was Alex and Sandra never did much to correct the mistake.
As Jack looked her over he could see the child was no longer the ball of energy she had been when they first picked her up at Ester's. Alex had been delighted and extremely excited to go to the zoo with her Uncles and see the tigers. Especially when she learned it was for a Halloween party. The party combined her current two favorite things: Halloween and animals. Alex had developed an obsession with animals and her parents had spent several Saturday's at the zoo with her over the last few months. Though she was upset that she couldn't wear the face makeup that would complete her look. Ester on the other hand was not thrilled and rather suspicious when the three men showed up. Yet she couldn't deny Alex the trip once she saw how very excited she was. If she said no she would have been forced to spend the afternoon with an angry child. Better to send her with the guys and let them deal with the hyperactive little girl.
Hours earlier Alex has sat happily in the back of Jack's car on the way to the zoo and she talked the whole way about all the animals at the zoo. She eagerly informed about them which ones she wanted to see and everything she knew about them. Above all the tigers were her favorite animal, so much that when asked what she wanted to be for Halloween she immediately insisted on being a tiger. The three men were happy to let her talk, it was no secret all three had a soft spot for the little girl which surprised no one but it did annoy Strickland at times. He felt they spoiled and indulged her more than they should and he felt Sandra often did little to stop them only stepping in when she felt they had gone too far.
The angelic little girl had the men of UCOS wrapped around her little finger and they indulged her whenever they could. Yet none of them could hold a candle to Alex's mother when it came to her affection. Alex adored her mother more than anyone else a feat which shocked Sandra herself more than anyone. If she didn't want to do something her mummy always seemed to find a way to make it sound fun. She happily went everywhere with her mother without compliant and she seemed content just being held by her mother never getting bored. To the little girl-like most children her age- she believed strongly that her mother could fix anything. Therefore, when something was wrong she wanted her mother and she could be very vocal about it.
"I want mummy" the little girl cried right on cue. The statement didn't surprise Jack very much. She had made her desire known for the first time as they left the zoo and several times on the car ride back to the office. It was the reason they simply had not returned her to Ester's care once they were finished. Jack knew better than to try and give her back to Ester, this was the one area where the perfect little girl turned into a ticking time bomb.
"We are going to see her real soon just a few more minutes" he promised her. Alex was not one to whine and complain too much unless something was actually wrong. She never whined for mummy or daddy simply because she was bored and she usually began to cry for them if a bout of separation anxiety came over her.
At the age of two and a half Alex still suffered from separation anxiety, it had started when she was about eight months old and she had yet to grow out of it as most children her age had. Yet thankfully what use to be an everyday fight was now only happening fifty percent of the time. Sandra could leave Alex in the morning with Ester and never hear an objection from her daughter. While other mornings the angelic child turned into a holy terror and would not stop crying. Sandra hated those mornings, she hated leaving the Lane household while her daughter cried out for her. The first time it happened it truly broke Sandra's heart and she spent fifteen minutes just sitting in the car crying. It was hard to leave her child to begin with and when Alex got old enough to use her words to beg her mother not to leave it only got harder. This behavior was not limited to her mother she reacted the same way when her father dropped her off as well. It had been just as hard for him to leave her and he actually stayed with her trying to calm her down and ended up only making it worse. After several days of research and more than one trip to see doctors the two parents were still dealing with the issue. They had learned that it was normal for some child to have this problem and they had found a few strategies to combat the anxiety. And now half way through her 'terrible twos' most of her tantrums were a result of being told she couldn't see her mummy or daddy. The three men of UCOS had only one way to deal with this problem—they took Alex to one of her parents as quickly as they could.
"Brian what did you feed her at that party?" Jack asked his colleague taking a closer look at the girl. She didn't feel warm so he figured she wasn't sick and that left the possibility that she ate something bad.
"Me? I didn't feed her anything" Brian told him confused why Jack was asking him.
"We left her with you" Jack explained shaking his head.
"I sent her off to play I was with you remember" Brian countered.
"You just let her go off on her own?" Jack exclaimed shocked by what he was hearing.
"With all the other kids" Brian added still confused, he didn't understand why Jack seemed upset at him.
"She's is only two and a half." Gerry cried not pleased with what Brian was telling them either.
"I could see her the whole time I just didn't pay attention to what she ate. I didn't know I needed to." The other two men shook their heads at their colleages carelessness.
"Alex sweetie what did you have to eat at the party?" Jack asked looking down at the girl.
"Candy and biscuits" she told him weakly.
"Jesus Brian Sandra is going to kill us" Gerry moaned loudly.
"At least she isn't bouncing off the walls" Brian offered with a smile.
"No she's sick" Gerry hissed as Jack just glared at Brian.
"Daddy" the little girl cried taking the three men by surprise when she spotted her father walking towards them. Gerry, Jack and Brian turned around startled to see Strickland, his presence was both unexpected and unwanted. They watched despondently as Alex raised her arms to let her father know she wanted to be picked up.
"Hello darling" he said scooped up his daughter into his arms and she rested her head on his shoulder. "What are you doing here?" he asked confused as to why his child was here with Sandra's three missing team members. She hadn't mentioned anything to him about the men taking their daughter and she usually made sure to notify him of such things.
"We went to zoo." Alex told her father before the three men could come up with an excuse to explain her presence.
"Halloween party" Gerry added quickly.
"Ah" Strickland replied still confused and suspicious. "Did you have fun?" he asked the little girl.
"Yes but I only see tigers and elephants we had to go bye-bye." She told him with a frown.
Alex had been less than thrilled when her uncles told her she could only see a few animals. Jack had feared she would start to cry or throw a tantrum when they were done but to his surprise she put up little fight. Her only response was to let them know she wanted her mother. That should have been their first indication that something was wrong with her but they had heard this request many times before and they thought very little about it.
"And how were the tigers?" her father asked knowing they were her favorite. He was still suspicious of this little trip to the zoo and he had a feeling Sandra knew just as much as he did about it.
"Sleepy I no like when they sleep" she pouted unhappy.
"What else did you do at this party?" he inquired. It was unlike his daughter to provide him with two rather negative responses especially after a trip to her favorite place. She had a genuinely happy demeanor and she usually focused on the enjoyable parts of her day. He was immediately concerned something had happened at the zoo, something the three men were not eager to share. The way she was resting rather limply in his arms was another warning sign telling him something wasn't quite right. Even when she was exhausted she preferred to cuddle close to him not just lay against him.
"I play got candy" she told him. He groaned out loud, he now hated that word. His daughter had a sweet tooth, one trait she didn't inherited from her mother.
Sandra had been careful not to expose their daughter to sweets focusing on healthier snacks at the recommendation of their pediatrician, who had scared them both with statistics about childhood obesity and other conditions. As a result, this was the one topic Sandra had been truly strict about when it came to Alex. She had even successfully threatened her three pensioners, they would indulge Alex in every way they could but they never gave her sweets. Ester had been in full support and Sandra knew that the only way she had succeeded thus far was the fact that Alex didn't spend all day with other kids.
Yet Sandra wasn't a fool she knew she couldn't keep sweets away from the girl forever she had a plan to introduce them to her very carefully and very slowly. She hoped she could instill good eating habits and then introduce her to candy, biscuits, and ice cream. Alex wasn't even three yet and Sandra couldn't see why she needed to be introduced to these temptations at such an early age. Alex did know about cake but she knew it was something she only got on birthdays and she had never made much fuss about it the rest of the year. She had flat out refused to eat the cake served at her first birthday and only ate a little of it at her second earlier that year. She also had a great dislike of icing after it ended up on her fingers during that first birthday. The toddler still refused to eat it but Strickland had a feeling that once she did she would ask for cake a lot more often. Currently the problem was with candy especially chocolate. All Sandra's hard work was thrown out the window in one afternoon and it had been all his fault.
To everyone's surprise Robert Strickland had a secret sweet tooth, a fact he had managed to keep hidden even from Sandra. And as a result, he always had a bag of candy stashed away in his desk somewhere. One afternoon two months previous everything had gone wrong. Ester broke a tooth and had an emergency trip to the dentist. Robert gladly came to get Alex, his plan had been to drop her off in the basement where Sandra, Jack, Gerry, and Brian would happily entertain her for the rest of the day. Only he forgot to check with Sandra first and the four were out of the office on several very important interviews and couldn't come back. This meant Alex would have to stay with him.
His office was hardly child friendly and he forgot to bring anything for Alex to play with. Plus, Alex was a smart child and she knew both her parents worked in the same building. She didn't understand why she couldn't go downstairs and see her mother, her request had never been refused before when they were in the office. She never did well when she was told she couldn't see her mum and that afternoon it sent her into a full-blown tantrum. Strickland had not expected the situation to cause a tantrum or an attack of Alex's separation anxiety and he was surprised to find out he was wrong. On top of everything he was extremely busy with really important work that needed to be done. At that precise moment he needed to finish a report and so he did the only thing he could think of, he ignored the kicking screaming child in front of him. She stomped her foot when he told her she couldn't sit on his lap and again when he took his model boat away from her.
Alex eventually calmed down when she realized he wasn't paying attention to her. Yet it didn't take her long to find something that interested her—her father's desk. She then set to work going through his desk drawers. After several minutes of her searching and her father's halfhearted attempts to stop her she found his hidden bag of sweets. Robert was just happy she had calmed down and he focused on his work paying no attention to her when she asked him what it was. He then automatically said yes when she asked if she could have some.
He only looked up minutes later when he realized she had been quiet for far too long. By that point Alex had managed to open and eat four pieces of chocolate. There was a tell-tale chocolate smudge on her face and wrappers littered around her. He said a bad word and grabbed the sweets away from her. She sat there in shock not sure if she was going to yell or cry. It was at that moment Sandra burst into his office, she had rushed back from her interview to take care of Alex and rescue her partner. Sandra stood there in dismay, she couldn't believe what she saw. Alex on the other hand was delighted, her face lit up and she ran to her mother reaching to be picked up.
After she recovered from her shock Sandra was furious, she cleaned the girl up and took her down to her office. Once there she tried to explain to her daughter that candy and sweets were not an everyday food, but to no avail. Now that she had tasted chocolate Alex wanted more and asked for it all the time. Sandra had made managed some slight progress until Rufus explained trick or treating to his little sister. The moment she heard that people would give her candy she was very interested and wouldn't let it go. Sandra had basically given up on her plan to keep candy away from the toddler and moved on to keeping it controlled until the child could understand the concept to healthy eating. Yet she still blamed Strickland whenever she could.
"You had candy?" Strickland repeated shaking his head trying to chase away the bad memories.
"Ya, daddy I no feel good" she moaned.
"You don't? How much candy did you have?" he asked her becoming nervous.
"All I want, biscuits look like animals" Alex informed him. To his knowledge his daughter had never had a biscuit before. This information was guaranteed to upset Sandra and he was glad it was one first he was not responsible for.
"And you three just let her eat whatever she wanted?" Robert demanded glaring at Gerry, Jack and Brian. He knew the three men understood what food Alex should and shouldn't eat, he was a bit surprised they would let something like this happen. The men didn't answer and they wouldn't make eye contact with him a very bad sigh.
"Uncle Brian leave said I go play, I wanted sweets" she told her father unaware of how it would anger him.
"He left you alone?" he asked through clenched teeth.
"Uh-huh" the girl confirmed.
"Oh really" he scowled at the men he could not believe they could be so irresponsible with his child.
"Your daughter is a grass" Gerry moaned.
"Christ Gerry, Sandra is going to kill you and then she will kill me because all this involves candy. Darling, Uncle Gerry is going to take you downstairs to see mummy" He told his daughter as he handed her over to the older man. She didn't argue at the change, she didn't seem to care who took her to her mother just so long as she got there. "Mummy will make you feel better" he reassured the toddler before giving her a kiss on the side of her head. "You three take her down to Sandra right now I…ah…I have a meeting I need to get to" he order them before he turned and quickly left.
"On our way" Gerry called after him.
"He's right Sandra is going to be well angry how could you let her do that Brian?" Jack moaned at him.
"I thought we were there to see Morgan" Brian shot back trying to defend himself.
"Oh Brian" Jack sighed frustrated by the man's complete obliviousness.
"We could always take her back to Ester" Brian suggested not that he was eager to get yelled at by his wife either.
"Mummy I want mummy" she cried at his suggestion and there was the threat of tears in her voice.
"Oh no we can't" Gerry told him as the lift arrived and he carried the girl on to it. He knew exactly what would happen if they did not get the child down to her mother as soon as possible.
"Come on Brian best get this over with" Jack told him as they joined Gerry.
"Sandra" Jack called cautiously as they walked into the office. Part of him hoped she wasn't there but the other part of him feared what Alex would do if her mother did not make an appearance soon.
"Where have you three been?" she yelled exiting her office.
"Mummy" Alex cried wiggling in Gerry's arms trying to get down to Sandra.
"And why do you have my daughter?" she demanded her hands on her hips glaring at them. She was none too pleased at the sight in front of her.
"Ah…well…" Jack mumbled unsure what to say.
"I no feel good" the girl repeated this time it was directed at her mother. Gerry was in the process of putting her down trying not to drop her as she wiggled around frantically. He had her halfway down when she promptly threw up all over him.
"Christ" he cried in dismay and he only managed to just hold on to Alex as she was sick on him, the other two men could only look on in shock at the scene in front of them.
Sandra on the other hand reacting quickly she grabbed a nearby trash bin and was at her daughter's side in a split second. She turned the girl towards the bin preventing her from being sick on Gerry once more.
"It's okay sweetheart" she told her daughter gently rubbing her back to reassure her. "Brian get me a bottle of water, Jack I need that box of tissues." She ordered as Alex threw up in the bin once more. When the girl's stomach finally settled down she began to cry. Big fat tears rolled down her cheeks as Sandra set about cleaning her up.
"It's okay bug drink a little water" Sandra prompted bringing the water bottle up to the little girl's lips trying to sooth her distraught child. The nickname 'bug' had started as a joke when Sandra was pregnant and it stuck as her own special term of endearment for her daughter after she was born. And no one called Alex 'bug' except Sandra, no one even dared to try.
Initially Sandra had been both excited and nervous at the prospect of having a child and becoming a parent. But when she found out she was having a girl she began to panic. She feared she would have the same relations hip with her daughter that she herself had with Grace. Robert repeatedly tried to reassured her that she was not her mother and reminded her that every child was different. His words fell on deaf ears and his attempts did little to comfort or calm her anxiety. She was convinced that she would be unable to have a successful relationship with her daughter especially when she had such a poor role model. She refused to see reason or logic, even Gerry and Jack tried unsuccessfully to dispel her fears.
It soon became clear to everyone except Sandra that she was channeling all her fears of parenthood into her perceived doomed relationship with her unborn child. Robert was desperate to assuage her fears and reassure her and he tried everything he could think of. He finally got through to her when he reminded her of her relationship with her father. He promised Sandra that she was did in fact have a good role model of parental love. He was also convinced that all these fears she was suffering proved she would be a wonderful mother.
All Sandra's anxiety disappeared the minute she held her daughter for the first time. From that moment on she no longer worried about her relationship with Alex. The infant demonstrated a natural and enthusiastic attachment to her mother that quickly grew as the child grew. Yet this relationship and attachment was not at the expense of her relationship with the other people in her life. She loved her father deeply and openly showed him affection at every opportunity he just didn't fix things as well as Sandra did. All in all Alex was generally a very easy going happy go lucky child who saw the good in everything and most everyone. There were very few people she didn't like, even her brother Rufus who often enjoyed teasing her had yet to lose her favor with her. Alex was more than happy playing with her uncles and spending her days with Ester. But when she had the choice and sometimes even when she didn't she chose to be with her mother. The only true problem they faced was Alex's separation anxiety.
Once cleaned up Sandra picked up her sobbing toddler and carried her over to the small red sofa where they sat down together. She cradled Alex in her arms and held her close as she rocked her gently back and forth rubbing comforting circles on her back. It took a little while but slowly the girl's tears died down now that she was cuddled in her mother's arms. Every so often the little girl sniffled a little but her eventually breathing evened out. Now that Alex was mostly calm down Sandra turned her attention back to the three men.
"Someone had better tell me what you three or should I saw four have been up to this afternoon." She ordered them sternly glared up at each of them.
"I need to get cleaned up" Gerry moaned looking down at his ruined suit.
"I am willing to bet that you deserved your current condition for whatever it is you have been doing." She growled still glaring at him feeling no sympathy for the man.
"Me this is Brian's fault" Gerry gripped looking back down at his suit, he couldn't hold Sandra's glare.
"You can't blame this all on me" Brian countered.
"You're the one who left her alone" Gerry shot back.
"You left her alone?" Where?" Sandra snapped at them the more she found out the more upset she became.
"We go to zoo, paty at the zoo" Alex told her. The girl's tears had finally stopped and she was looking up at her mother. Sandra shifted the toddler so she was sitting up a little in her lap, it was clear that she was going to get more answers from her daughter.
"At the zoo?" Sandra asked confused, it didn't make any sense that the three of them would run off to take Alex to the zoo without telling her.
"Halloweeeeen paty I get candy" Alex informed her mother much to the dismay of the three men.
"How much candy did you have?" Sandra asked with forced evenness, she was beginning to piece together what had been going on and she wasn't pleased.
"All I want and biscuits" she added and it took all the control her mother had not to jump up and start yelling at the men right then and there.
"And what where your uncles doing while you were off eating candy?" she inquired trying to stay calm as she looked over at the men. She didn't want Alex to think she was mad at her, the little girl had done nothing wrong, the fault was entirely her uncles.
"Talking away from me" Alex answered unaware she was telling on her uncles.
"Who were you talking to Jack?" she asked through gritted teeth.
"Ah well" Jack stuttered.
"Tell me you were not talking to Alan Morgan" she growled.
"I can't" Jack admitted with a sigh.
"Did I or did I not tell you to stay-"
"Mummy" Alex wailed cutting off her mother's yelling.
"Yes sweetheart?" Sandra asked changing her voice to one of caring concern.
"Daddy say you make me better"Alex told her, clearly she didn't like her mother focusing on something other than her as she still didn't feel well.
"Daddy? When did you see daddy?" Sandra asked her confused how Robert played into all of this.
"Up there I no feel good, daddy say you make me better give me to Uncle Gerry make me better." The girl tried to explain, she was whinging by the end making it clear she didn't feel better yet.
"Oh did he" she sighed. "Brian go find me a can of Sprite and some salt crackers please. Gerry go get cleaned up you're starting to smell." She ordered, she realized she wasn't going to be able to deal with the three men till her daughter was feeling better.
"I know" Gerry sighed. "You know I told him his daughter was a grass" he informed her looking down at his suit again.
"Well Gerry that is one of the joys of having a child they are always willing to rat the other parent out." She informed him smiling. "Now go" she ordered and he willingly fled the room. "We are not done talking about this Jack" she warned the last man left in the room.
"I don't think anyone thought we were" Jack sighed turning on the kettle choosing to focus on a cup of tea rather than her and Alex.
"And I will be having words with daddy too" she added softly.
"Daddy bad?" Alex asked concerned, she didn't like the idea that her parents where mad at each other.
"No bug mummy just wishes daddy had stayed with you since you didn't feel good." She explained she didn't want her daughter to worry.
"I want you" the girl moaned.
"I'm here now, you're going to be okay now that you don't have all that icky candy in your tummy." She said rubbing the child's back. The room was quiet for a little while as they waited for Brian to return.
"Mummy?"
"Yes?" Sandra asked.
"What a grass?" the little girl asked innocently and Sandra groaned inwardly she was still finding it hard to remember that her daughter heard everything and absorbed it all.
"Well… it's a person who tells the truth" she said trying to find a way to explain the concept to her two and a half year old that would not result in more questions or bad dreams. Thankfully Brian chose that minute to return, he walked over and handed her the can of sprite and package of crackers. She shifted the girl into an upright position.
"Okay Alex I want you to take a few tiny sips of this" she told her daughter lifting the can to her lips. It was yet another first for the girl and Sandra couldn't help but shake her head. She then took a cracker out and handed it to Alex. "Little bites you don't need to eat the whole thing." They repeated this process a few times before the child finally was feeling a little better.
"Mummy" the girl said lying her head against Sandra.
"Yes sweetheart" she replied as she pulled her daughter closer.
"I no be a tiger I no want this no more" she cried pulling the hood of her outfit off her head, it had somehow managed to say on through everything.
"That's okay you don't have to be a tiger anymore" she reassured her running her hand through Alex's how free blond hair. "Right, Jack can you run out to my car I have a change of clothes for her in the back. I am going to take a guess and say you didn't bring her bag with you?" she asked looking directly at the man.
"No sorry" he sighed.
"Then will you please go grab her clothes from my car?"
"Of course" he answered gladly fleeing the office.
Gerry was still off getting cleaned up and Brian was hiding behind his computer. Jack was glad to be out of the office even it was only for a few minutes. The atmosphere in their little office was more than a bit tense. Sandra was furious with them and the only thing preventing her from yelling at them was the sick little girl in her arms. It didn't take him very long to retrieve the requested clothing. He handed the clothes to Sandra and quietly sat down at his desk taking Brian's example and hiding behind his computer. He noticed Gerry had returned and had the same idea.
It only took Sandra a few minutes to get Alex out of her tiger costume and into the t-shirt and jeans. Soon the toddler was curled up in her mother's arms once more far happier now.
"Feel better now?" she asked smiling down at his daughter.
"Little, I no like halloweeeen no more" she moaned.
"You don't?" Sandra questioned.
"No and I no go trick or treating no more" she said pouted a little but her tone was very serious. If the situation had been filled with less tension the guys would have commented that she sounded just like her mother.
"Are you sure?" Sandra asked her.
"Ya I no want candy I no like candy no more it's icky" she said with all seriousness.
"It's okay you don't have to have any more candy" Sandra promised the girl trying hard not to laugh. She didn't believe for one minute that her daughter would abstain from eat candy from now on. "Why don't you close your eyes and rest?" she suggested and Alex willingly complied. Between her trip to the zoo and her upset stomach the little girl was definitely tired. Sandra gently rocked her daughter back and forth as she slowly rubbed circles on her back. She began humming softly in the hopes that Alex would soon fall asleep.
Sandra still couldn't believe the three men actually pulled a stunt like this. The guys were impulsive and stupid at times but this was getting awfully close to neglectful in her mind. The fact that they left her daughter unattended at the zoo was enough to make her lose it completely on them. And on top of that she was left to clean up the mess no thanks to her ever loving partner. The man introduced Alex to candy and then ran away at the first sign of trouble.
It took no more than ten minutes to lull the girl off to sleep but Sandra continued to hold her. She was still trying to calm down before she ended up screaming the building down when she let the men know what she thought of their little trip. Holding her daughter was one of favorite activities she relished whenever she got the chance to do so, though in this case she was far from please at the circumstances surrounding it. Sandra loved her job but she deeply missed her daughter while she was at work. The girl was growing up too quickly for Sandra's liking, soon the toddler wouldn't even fit in her lap. She hated missing all the little moments in Alex's day and she genuinely looked forward to the opportunity to hold her daughter like this just the two of them. Even if the reason behind it was because she had gorged herself on candy when her uncles had disobeyed Sandra's instructions.
After about half an hour she carefully set Alex down on the sofa. She brushed some hair off the girls face and kissed her forehead. With one final look she turned her attention to the three men.
"You three in my office now" she hissed at them, her voice was no louder than a whisper yet they could still hear the anger in it. The three slowly stood up and filed into her office. She followed them closing the door softly behind her.
"Keep your voices down because if you wake her I will kill you" she threatened glaring at each of them. Right now was not the time to push her, she was ready to explode at them and they knew it.
"Look Sandra if you give us a minute we can explain." Gerry tried hoping against hope she might let them off.
"Explain? What possible explanation could you give me to justify ignoring the orders of the Assistant Commissioner? You were expressly told not to talk to Alan Morgan again until you had more evidence. Not only did you talk to him you used my daughter to do so." She managed to keep her voice low but her tone still made it clear she was still seething mad at them.
"Well when you put it that way" Gerry sighed he knew they were in for it.
"And as if that wasn't bad enough you let her eat nothing but candy. You just let her go off on her own while you talked to Morgan. She is two and a half, doesn't that mean anything to you lot?" She wanted to yell and scream at them, Alex was the most important person in the world to her and she thought the three of them understood what that meant. She took several deep breaths, if she didn't calm down she was likely to start screaming and crying. That was the last thing she wanted Alex to wake up to, especially after everything she had already been through.
"We screwed up" Jack told her softly.
"What were you thinking?" she growled ignoring his statement.
"It really is all Brian's fault" Gerry told her earning him a glare from the other man.
"Thanks Gerry" he growled.
"One of you want to tell me exactly what happened?" she asked them slowly losing patience with them.
"I found out online that Alan Morgan was sponsoring a Halloween party at the London zoo this afternoon." Brian told her but that was where he stopped and the other two chose not to step in.
"And let me guess you thought the best way in would be with a child, my child. So without asking me or Robert you lied to Ester and borrowed my daughter?"
"How did you know we lied to Ester?" Brian asked sounding almost impressed with her guess, he had a habit for miss reading the situations like this.
"I'll take that as a yes. Of course you lied to Ester, she would have never agreed to let you take Alex if she knew the truth. She knows you three better than that." She informed them with a knowing look.
"We told Ester we were taking her to the zoo as a favor to you so you could have the afternoon to yourself." Gerry admitted to her.
"We? You made me do it" Jack cried.
"Shh" Sandra hissed at him. All four looked out the window and held their breath praying Jack hadn't woken the sleeping little girl. After a minute of silence they let out a collective sigh of relief.
"So then who wants to tell me what happened when you got to the zoo and how my daughter was left unattended?" She asked them sternly once she determined Alex was still blissfully asleep.
"We left Alex to play with the other kids while we went off to talk to Alan Morgan. We were close by and the party was restricted to a specific area, we thought she would be find" Brian spoke up trying to offer some defense.
"Excuse me we didn't do anything Jack and I thought you were going to watch her" Gerry corrected him.
"You didn't notice when I joined you to question Morgan?" Brian countered.
"I was a bit distracted with the case at hand by that point" Gerry replied.
"And that is exactly why Alex should have been left out of your little adventure. Brian why did you think it was an okay idea to leave her on her own? Someone could have taken her or she could have gotten hurt?" She stopped herself from considering all the horrible things that could have happened, if she continued it would only drive her mad.
"I thought she was big enough to be on her own." Brian told her.
"Oh Brian no she isn't while you were off talking to Morgan she was stuffing candy in her mouth" she sighed at Brian's obliviousness.
"I didn't know she would do that" he added trying to defend himself.
"She is two and a half and she just discovered candy two months ago, of course she went after the sweets." She exclaimed as quietly as she could before taking a deep breath, it would do no good to get even more upset.
"Sorry I thought she would be okay. Sandra, I really could see her the whole time, I kept looking over to make sure I could see her." He apologized he hated to think something could have happened to Alex because of him.
"Well I guess I will be thankful for that" she replied sarcastically. "Except you weren't paying any attention to her your focus was on Morgan. Was it worth everything you did? As productive as the previous chats?" she asked her anger boiling again.
"Actually it was productive" Gerry informed her.
"We got him to talk" Jack added.
"And what did he say?" her patience truly was wearing thin.
"He told us that he didn't do it, he was with a woman at the time" Gerry answered her smiling.
"The good news is we won't be talking to him again." Jack added looking for something positive out of all of this.
"So you borrowed my daughter, disobeyed orders all to discover that he didn't do it. Something I told you yesterday." She growled as the smile fell from Gerry's face. She could not believe all of this was for nothing just to satisfy their own curiosity.
"Yes that about sums it up" Gerry agreed unhappily.
"What am I going to tell the assistant commissioner when he calls me in and yells at me?" She asked glaring at them.
"I don't think Alan Morgan will be complaining. He was actually quite accommodating and friendly." Jack informed her hopefully.
"Yeah once we knew he didn't do it we had a nice chat" Gerry added.
"You are lucky he didn't have you thrown out the moment he saw you. This is without a doubt the stupidest thing you three have never done. What were you thinking?"
"We thought he did it" Brian answered honestly.
"No you clearly weren't thinking at all. Now listen to me very carefully. You do not use my daughter to get near a suspect, you do not use her in any way that has to do with a case. And if you do want to take her anywhere you ask me or Robert first. Am I making myself clear?" she hissed at them. She never wanted a repeat of the day's events again.
"Yes" they all agreed nodding their heads.
"I just can't believe you would do something like this it was dangerous and irresponsible." She sighed sitting down in her chair.
"We're sorry Sandra we just wanted to talk to him" Gerry apologized.
"And I thought Alex would have fun" Brian added.
"Oh she had fun alright too much fun" she sighed once more.
"I'm sorry Sandra I should have kept a closer eye on her" Brian apologized he did feel bad about Alex.
"We all should have been watching, we're really sorry" Gerry joined in.
"Don't ever do anything like this ever again. Alex is not here for you to use as you need on a case or anything else for that matter." She replied directing her last statement at Gerry, when Alex was an infant she caught him trying to use her baby to pick up a woman at the park.
"We know, we will never do anything like this again promise." Jack reassured her, he understood why she was so upset.
Shortly after Sandra had found out she was pregnant after the initial joy faded she began to fear she was making a huge mistake. She was not the naturally domestic type of person and she had little experience with children. Plus, she worked long hours and she loved her job. Her whole world would have to change to accommodate a child and she wasn't sure she could handle it. There was little previous experience with children to help her. Additionally Sandra knew she didn't deal with change very well and she didn't think she had any mothering instinct. She had never even had a pet save the goldfish her mum flushed down the loo. At the time Jack did his best to reassure her but as he had never had children of his own so he couldn't do much to assuage her fears. He was sure that once the baby was born she would be a wonderful mum and her instincts would kick in. To his surprise it didn't even take that long. The first time Sandra felt Alex move inside her she knew she would do anything to protect her baby. That feeling naturally continued to intensify once Alex was born. The first thought in her mind was always keeping Alex safe, then today to her great dismay the three people she trusted most, apart from Robert had put that all at risk.
"Honestly Sandra never again" Gerry promised her sincerely. He knew how upset he would be if someone had done this to his girls or Gerry Jr. she was right they hadn't been thinking. All three men felt terrible for what they did and it was worse to know there was nothing they could do to make up for it.
"You better not, and you better hope Alan Morgan doesn't go back to his friend the assistant commissioner because if he does I can't protect you. Strickland will have your heads. As it is he will be none too pleased when he finds out what you did." She warned them.
"We are prepared to deal with him" Jack assured her. "For everything that we did" he added.
"Speaking of Robert how exactly did he get involved before I did?" She asked them, it was the last piece of information she was interested in. She wanted to know exactly how her partner got away from their sick daughter.
"We ran into him on our way back to the office in front of the lift." Gerry informed her, he was more than happy to throw the other man under the bus. Robert Strickland was not one of Gerry Standing's favorite people, he had a general aversion to the top brass and the politics they played.
When Sandra told them she and Strickland were going to have a baby he reacted badly. Gerry quickly came round and apologized, yet he couldn't help but worry about Strickland's intentions. After all the older man cared for Sandra and wanted to make sure she was treated the right way. They had all been surprised to learn about the little bundle of joy that was on the way, the two police officers didn't seem the type to settle down into domestic bliss especially together. Yet now even Gerry had to admit they made a good couple and wonderful parents. Strickland could be a decent guy, he was a good dad, and he did treat Sandra right. But that didn't mean Gerry was going to protect the guy when he was already in enough trouble himself.
"And the moment he found out Alex was sick he ran away" she said filling in the gaps once more.
"Yes basically he heard the word candy and bolted" Gerry told her and he couldn't keep the smirk off his face. They all knew how angry she had been when she found Alex eating chocolate in Strickland's office. And Gerry couldn't resist the opportunity to get him in a little trouble.
"I will deal with him in a little while." She informed them sternly. "Now here is what is going to happen. You three are going to go home and tomorrow you are going to come in and work on finding the person who actually committed this murder am I clear?" she growled once more and the grin disappeared from Gerry's face.
"Yes" they all murmured in agreement looking down at the floor.
"Good, now go before I change my mind and decide to kill you" she threatened. The men didn't need to be told twice they immediately did as they were told.
"Bye Sandra we're really sorry" Jack said as he opened her office door eager to leave.
"Bye sorry about all this" Gerry added as he followed Jack out the door.
"Sorry Sandra see you tomorrow."
"Night Brian" she replied softly as she watched them quickly collected their coats. To her relief she watched them quietly leave the office being extra careful not to wake the sleeping child.
Sandra sat there at her desk for a while trying hard not to think about her boys and what they had done that afternoon. She was still furious about it and she couldn't stop thinking about all the terrible things that could have happened to Alex. It was the worst part of being both a police officer and a parent. She saw the worst of humanity in this job and it scared her to death to think of her daughter out in the world with all those criminals. She had been thrilled when Ester had offered to watch Alex while they were at work. Sandra trusted Ester completely she knew the older woman would never let any harm come to her daughter. She didn't think she could go to work every day Alex wasn't in such good hands. That didn't mean she didn't worry about her daughter and she couldn't help but imagine all the things that could happen to the girl.
She looked down at her watch to discover that it was just past 5:30 and she knew if she let Alex sleep past six she would have a hell of a time getting the girl to bed later that night. They needed to leave for home soon and there was still one person she wanted to deal with before they left. She picked up her phone and hit the necessary buttons.
"Hi where are you?" she asked her partner when he picked up his phone
"In my office" Robert told her sounding slightly nervous.
"I think you better come down here" she told him calmly.
"I thought you might say that, how is Alex?" he sighed he knew he was in for a bit of a bollocking.
"She's asleep on the sofa so be quiet please I'm not ready to wake her up yet." Alex was too young to understand that it was okay for her mother and father to yell and fight every once in a while.
"Right I'll be down in a few" he agreed hanging up the phone.
Putting her phone down Sandra got up and walked back into the main room. Quietly she walked over to check on Alex. The child was sleeping peacefully and Sandra pushed a few stray hairs off her face. She need to make sure her daughter wasn't cold, she only had t-shirt to change the girl into and the basement could naturally be a little cold. Thankfully the toddler seemed comfortable and completely oblivious to anything that was going on.
Sandra really wasn't all that angry at Robert, they had raised a daughter together for two and half years she knew exactly how he reacted when Alex was sick. Yet that didn't mean she was above making him think he was in trouble. She didn't like what he did but she was more interested in sharing the afternoon's horrible details with him. Soon she wouldn't be the only one who was upset and haunted by what ifs, which was also the benefit of parenting. She looked up a minute later to find Strickland coming through the door.
"She okay?" he whispered as he looked down at his daughter.
"Yes, better now, let's go in my office" she suggested and he nodded following her closing the door once they were inside.
"Sandra-"
"No just answer me one question did you send our daughter down here with Gerry, Jack and Brian after you found out she didn't feel good?" she asked getting straight to the issue at hand.
"Maybe" he replied softly.
"Maybe?" she asked raising her eyebrows at him.
"Alright yes I told Gerry to bring her straight to you" he admitted.
"Robert" she sighed.
"I had a meeting" he tried weakly.
"No you didn't, I looked at your calendar this morning remember" she told him shaking her head as she called him out on his lie.
"I-"
"You ran away" she said flatly.
"Yes I did I'm sorry but you know I have no idea what to do when she is sick" he moaned.
"You could have brought her down here yourself. Stayed with her instead of handing her over to Gerry." She suggested, she was too tired to even pretend to be angry at him.
"I just ran into them by the lift I didn't need to be lumped into whatever they did that resulted in our daughter eating candy all afternoon at the zoo while her favorite uncles did who knows what. Why exactly were they at the zoo to begin with?" He countered trying to defend himself. It was a weak attempt though Sandra did acknowledge she had a tendency to find him guilty for simply being around those three when they pulled a stunt with Alex.
"Oh so you knew about the candy and the zoo?" she asked slightly surprised. Yet this that didn't stop her from giving him a glare for running away instead of coming down to help her deal with the problem.
"That was all I knew and I didn't want to know anymore I knew you would deal with them." He told her trying to separate himself from the pensioners and their misdeeds. Usually he tried to allow her to deal with the mess her three boys caused when he could.
"You want to know more?" she asked. Now that she had chastised him for running away she was eager to share what Gerry, Jack, and Brian had done to displease her.
"Is it going to upset me?" he asked already know the answer.
"I'm still a bit angry about it" she informed him folding her arms across her chest.
"Great" he sighed slumping into the nearby chair, she followed his lead and sat down in the chair behind her desk. "All right tell me" he requested.
"Those three decided to ignore what I told them and went to talk to Alan Morgan" she began getting the negative work implications out of the way first.
"I was pretty sure that was the case" he said far from surprised. "I will look out for another call from the AC" he added.
"If those three are to be believed you won't be getting one, apparently the conversation went better than their previous ones. They also got his alibi and they now agree he didn't do it" she continued hoping the boys were correct and the assistant commissioner would not be yelling at any of them the next day.
"So you were right, but what exactly does this have to do with our daughter?" he asked confused as to what part their child played in all this.
"Ah well naturally that's the part that has me upset" she warned him before she continued.
"I had a feeling, so tell me" he requested preparing himself.
"Alan Morgan was hosting a children's Halloween party at the zoo and Brian thought our daughter was the perfect way to get in." Sandra began to explain all about Brian's great idea and their trip to the zoo. She made sure to include all the part that upset and angered her, if she was going to be angry so was he.
"Let me get this straight, they used our daughter to circumvent your orders? Ironic if she was older I would be afraid they were teaching her bad tricks." He commented trying not to laugh. The three men had taught Sandra several bad ticks over the past several years. It was only a matter of time before they would rub off on her daughter as well.
"I am sure there is plenty of time for that" she said dryly not finding it as amusing as he did. "So they took her to the zoo and sent her off to play on her own while they went to talk to Morgan. That's how she got into all that candy, they weren't paying any attention." She growled getting worked up over it once more.
"So they did actually leave her entirely on her own?" he grumbled upon learning they had just left her completely unattended. The three men had indicated that they had let the girl go play on her own but he did not realize the extent to which they had truly left her.
"Yes, Brian swears he could see her the whole time but that doesn't make me feel any better. They were nowhere near her and they weren't paying any attention to her, of that I'm sure regardless of what Brian says." She ranted only just managing to keep her voice down.
"Doesn't make me feel better either. You yelled at them I imagine?" he asked and she knew he wouldn't mind yelling at them a bit too.
"As loudly as I could without waking her. I told them they are not allowed to use Alex for a case ever again." She informed him firmly.
"They better listen" he growled and there was a threat to his voice.
"Well once she finds out about all this Ester is unlikely to let Alex go with them without checking with us first. So I do think we should be okay." She told him, tomorrow she planned to have a long conversation with Ester to let her know exactly what the three men had done. The older woman had helped them so much with Alex since she was born. Ester was a more than welcome ally in their parenting adventure.
"Thank god for Ester" he sighed in relief.
"Yes I know" She smiled at him, she had no idea what they would do without the older woman to look after Alex.
"I see Alex is no longer dressed as a tiger" he commented happily. He had been pleasantly surprised to see her in jeans and a t-shirt instead of her tiger outfit.
"Yes after she threw up on Gerry-"
"She threw up on Gerry?" he exclaimed entertained at this news.
"Oh yes all over his suit, severs him right" she laughed a little thinking back.
"I wish I had come down just to see that" he chuckled along with her. "Though if I had brought her down she likely would have thrown up on me, it would be my suit that needed to be cleaned" he frowned at the thought.
"No, if you had brought her down she probably would have thrown up on me" she told him flatly. Though it would have hardly been the first time the little girl had thrown up on either of her parents. But Sandra had definitely bore the brunt of her daughter's upset stomachs.
"True, so what happened after she threw up?" he asked quickly changing the subject eager to avoid making her mad at him again.
"Once she was done being sick I got her cleaned up and her stomach settled. After that she told me she didn't want to be a tiger anymore. Luckily I had extra clothes in the car and I got her changed. Not only did those three take our daughter from Ester they didn't take her bag with them it is still at Ester's." She informed him with a sigh.
"Well I am happy she finally took that tiger outfit off on her own accord. I'm also glad she doesn't insist on traveling with blanky any more, if she did we would be making a stop on the way home."
"She also told me she doesn't like Halloween anymore and she doesn't like candy anymore." She informed him smiling, she knew he would be happy to hear that.
"Oh really" he sat up grinning like it was the best news he heard all day. Though thinking about it for a moment it likely was the best news had had received that day.
"Yes well I don't expect this to last very long." She warned him, he was not going to get off that easily.
"Maybe it will last long enough to get us out of having to take her trick or treating" he added hopefully.
"I won't hold my breath" she told him. She hadn't shared the part where Alex told her she didn't want to go trick of treating. She expected her daughter to change her mind in the next three days. "Right time to wake her up and go home. You coming or do you still have work?" She asked after glancing at the clock once more. She hoped he was ready to go home with them. After the rather eventful afternoon they all had Sandra was eager to have a quiet night in with him and Alex
"I'm ready to go" he answered smiling.
"Good come on then" she told him standing up. Together they walked back out into the larger room and over to where their daughter lay. Sandra knelt down next to the sofa and gently woke the little girl. Slowly her eyes fluttered open and she looked around confused for a moment.
"Mummy?" the girl moaned disoriented, she didn't remember exactly where she was.
"Time to go home bug. Does your tummy feel better?" she asked brushing the hair off the toddler's face.
"I think…ya" she answered rubbing her eyes. "Daddy?" Alex questioned when she noticed her father standing nearby.
"Hi darling you ready to go?" he asked smiling down at her.
"Ya I go home" Alex informed him sitting up with a smile looking between her two parents.
"That's good because that's exactly where we are going" he told her laughing a little, he was happy to see she was back to her peppy usual self.
"Come here" Sandra said standing up before she picked the girl up, Alex rested her head happily on her mother's shoulder. "Home we go" she promised the toddler.
"Daddy" the girl called out as the three of them walked out of the UCOS office.
"Yes darling?" he asked her.
"I no go trick or treating no more" she informed him sternly and once more he had to try hard not to laugh.
"If you don't want to go then we won't go." He assured his daughter sweetly.
Sandra couldn't see him but she knew he was grinning like a fool and she rolled her eyes at him.
"I am sure we can find something else that's a lot more fun to do instead" Sandra told her daughter.
"Ya" Alex sighed happily as she closed her eyes ready to finally go home.
A/N I really hope this wasn't too long and boring I couldn't find a way to make it shorter. Also I apologize for any typos that got through. I have read and reread this story so many times I think I have gone blind to them. Thank you for reading I hope you liked it. This story came about because I wanted to write a fic were Sandra and Strickland had a daughter together and this was the result-pure fluff. Once I had created the character of Alex I found I wanted to write more and I haven't really stopped, I think I kind of fell in love with the character. At this point I have quite a few stories about Alex to share. Chronologically this story comes after most of the other stories in this series about. But this was the first one I wrote and I think it a very good introduction to Alex and her world. There are five or six stories I plan to post for sure in this series and everyone major shows up including Ester and Grace as well as Hermione and Rufus Strickland. They are all really fluffy and just a little bit a fun. I really hope you like Alex as much as I do.