A/n Hey everyone. I know this is late, but the idea only occured to me on Christmas day. I hope you like it, let me know if you do or don't, all feedback is welcome.

Disclaimer: Nothing recognizable is mine, no copyright infringement is intended.

Christmas Shopping in Montana

"Come on Montana, it's gettin' late and we still have ta drive back ta the ranch." Danny begged Lindsay who was perusing a selection of leather work gloves.

Christmas carols were playing in the big farmers' supply market they'd entered about half an hour ago when Lindsay insisted on getting new work gloves for her Uncle Peter. It was Christmas Eve and Danny just wanted it to be over.

Lindsay lovingly stroked one side of her belly where their first child grew. Danny had tried to talk her out of shopping, but she insisted on finishing up some last minute gifts she wanted to give. Danny thought it was unnecessary to get a third gift for her Uncle, but she was unstoppable.

"Alright Danny, this is the last one, I promise."

"You said that half an hour ago."

A new song began on the over head speakers. The country music take on Christmas carols was creepy. It was weird to hear Merle Haggard singing Jingle Bells. In fact, to him it was a crime against the holiday, but he kept his mouth shut, he wanted to live to meet his child.

"Yes baby… I did, but then I remembered that Uncle Peter's gloves are pretty shredded." She would notice something like that.

"I don't want you on your feet. Remember what you promised the doctor?" He reminded her, sounding like a mother with an especially unruly child.

"You don't have to patronize me. Junior and I are just fine." She glared up at him and plucked a pair of gloves out of the enormous unstable pile in front of her.

Danny watched her move, and pulled the red knitted scarf her mother had given him away from his neck. He was getting a little hot under the collar from her glare, literally. She was so sexy when angry and pregnancy had enhanced that.

"Danny… are you coming, or are you going to stand there gaping?"

Oh yeah… coming was a distinct possibility if he didn't get a hold of himself fast.

Scratch that, getting a hold on himself was the last thing to think about, that was Lindsay's job! He watched her walk away and it wasn't helping his inappropriate arousal at all.

You're a bad, bad man, and a hopeless horn dog!

Okay so maybe he was, but for some reason, Lindsay's "condition" had thrown his hormones into overdrive, something he hadn't dealt with since high school. It was pretty embarrassing now that they were in Montana and bunking with her parents.

He looked out one of the windows as he followed Lindsay and tried to think of something less stimulating like some of the strange cases they'd handled lately.

He noticed that it was snowing, as it had been for the last two hours and it was really sticking to the roads. Wonderful… now they had to drive home in a blizzard!

"Thanks Hank…" He heard her call to the very large, very fat man behind the counter. He wore a red and green sweater, and a jaunty Santa's cap with a pair of brown pants. He had a white beard and moustache. Lindsay told him as they left, that the kids all called him Santa Claus. Hank waved enthusiastically at Lindsay as they left the store.

"I can see why." Danny said sarcastically.

"Why are you in such a foul mood all of a sudden?" She asked getting into the passenger side of the SUV she borrowed from her mother.

"If you haven't noticed, it's really snowing. We should have left a couple of hours ago." He got into the drivers side after loading the rest of their packages in the back.

He turned the engine on and fiddled with the heater. It was getting colder by the second and he was shivering. Lindsay looked utterly serene in the passenger seat.

"This is nothing. You should have been here for Christmas in nineteen ninety-eight. Now that was a bad storm."

He put the truck into gear and pulled slowly away from the curb. It was ten miles back to the ranch and he was going to be sweating the whole way. New Yorkers didn't drive in this weather. He'd seen the whole city shut done for half an inch of snow and there was at least an inch on the roads already.

"Yes baby, I know about the famous storm of '98, it's all your dad and brothers talked about last night."

"You don't have to patronize me." She turned on the radio and found more country music renditions of the classics. He shuddered, and then reminded himself that he promised he would give Montana at Christmas a chance for her and the baby's sake.

"I'm sorry Linds, but ya gotta admit they kinda laid it on pretty thick." Her father and brothers had made it sound like the storm of the millennium.

"It was a bad storm. We got three feet of snow in a forty-eight hour period. There were people stuck in their cars on the side of the road…"

He quit listening to her and engaged the four wheel drive. The snow was coming down faster, the flakes were tiny and the wind was pushing them around in every direction in front of the truck. He had decent visibility and as long as it didn't get worse, he thought they'd make it back to her parents place in safety.

"Oh…" Lindsay hissed and he glanced over at her rubbing at her belly again.

"You ok Montana," Her face was scrunched up in pain.

"Yeah… just a little kick from your child reminding me that he or she is awake," She hissed through her teeth.

"Are you sure that's all?"

"I'm fine," She insisted and smiled at him for effect.

"Okay…" He looked at the trip meter on the dash. "We're halfway home."

He looked out the windshield and saw that the flakes were large and falling faster than he'd ever seen. He was losing visibility fast and had to slow down quite a bit. The snow was beginning to stick to the road and the wind was pushing small drifts onto the road that looked like miniature hills.

"It's getting bad." He said.

"Naw this is nothing, were going to be okay." Lindsay assured him with a smile.

He shifted down to low gear and dropped his speed even more. His headlights weren't helping in the late afternoon light, so he switched them off. The world was completely white and grey around them, with the black pavement it was like an old black and white film. He shivered just looking at the scene in front of him. He risked a glance at Lindsay and she looked utterly un-fazed by the storm. She looked over at him and smiled that beautiful smile that made him think anything was possible.

"Come on Danny. I told you this was nothing. We're halfway home already and this truck can handle anything." She said, then her face went pale and she groaned grasping her stomach in pain. Her breathing went ragged and fast.

"Montana…" His hand left the wheel and grabbed for hers and he foolishly took his eyes off the road to see how she was.

"Danny… Look out!" She screamed. There was a sickening slide and a loud thump as the truck hit a large drift of snow and the ice underneath it defeated the four wheel drive. He yanked his hand away from her, his heart slamming into overdrive. He tried to grab the wheel and steady the truck but it was too late. The truck fishtailed in snow that was coming down so fast it was like being hit with a waterfall.

Lindsay screamed again and there was another sickening swoop in Danny's stomach as the truck left the road and slid down the embankment coming to rest against a barbed wire fence enclosing a large field. Probably a wheat field he thought crazily as his shoulder harness snapped him back into his seat. Lindsay moaned and the truck stuttered, coughed and stalled out in the blinding white snow.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Danny drew on his gloves and got out of the car. The wind howled so loudly he couldn't hear anything around him. The snow was falling so fast he was blind in the unrelenting whiteness. He walked around the truck letting a gloved hand trail around the outside of the vehicle. His face was already burning with cold and his glasses were covered with the white stuff. There was no way they were going anywhere, even if he could dig them out, they wouldn't be able to see to drive. He was shivering hard under his city coat. How could it possibly be this cold? He once thought New York was cold, but this was different, this cold was a living and breathing thing that could rip your lungs out, and throw them back to you, useless.

It was getting dark and Lindsay was his priority. There had to be a way to get out of this mess. The truck was a four wheel drive after all. It was useless he could see as he formed a fist and hit the side of the truck with the edge of his hand. He'd already tried to get them out and the truck wouldn't budge, they were stuck. How could a four wheel drive be stuck? They were supposed to be the best in snow right?

He turned and let his hand on the truck guide him back to the drivers side. He got in the truck and Lindsay was sobbing in a way he'd never seen.

"Where the hell did you go? Are you stupid Messer? That's a blizzard out there; you could get lost two feet from the truck and never get back." She screamed again and clutched at her abdomen. He couldn't believe that both of them were unharmed from the crash.

He leaned over and pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry Montana, but I had to try." He looked down into her brown eyes and saw the overwhelming fear in them, and his heart smote him for scaring her like that.

"Danny… what are we going to do. I think I'm in labor." She sniffed and burrowed into his arms.

"I don't know!" He admitted, pulling away from her and turning back to the useless vehicle. He hit the steering wheel with his hand.

"Danny please don't freak out on me. I need you cowboy." She sniffed again.

"Some cowboy I am," He leaned back over to take her in his arms again. One finger of his gloved hand pushed the tears away that were rolling down her red face.

"Lindsay… we gotta get prepared. We're not going anywhere and you're gonna have this baby. We have to look around and find anything we can use in this truck."

"There's blankets and water in the back. My father makes sure my mom is ready for anything. I think there are a flashlight in the glove compartment and a shovel in the back."

"Do you think you can move to the back? The seats fold down, yes?" He asked, pulling his scarf back up around his face, leaving only his glasses and blues eyes peering out at her.

"Yeah… I can." She said very softly and he could see the way her hands were trembling.

"Okay… I'm going to start the truck and give us a little heat for awhile. At least the tank is almost full." He tried not to look at the trip meter but it pulled his eyes down like a magnet.

They were only three miles from home and stuck in a blizzard. He stuck his hands in his pockets so Lindsay wouldn't see how they shook after he turned on the truck's engine and adjusted the heat. He looked at the dash, and the wheel, and noticed the truck didn't have that emergency service button you could push these days. Just great! What about your cell phone Messer, he thought. He pulled it out of his pocket, and looked at it. No service, how could there be no service, it was the 21st century for God's sake!

Well it looked like they were on their own. His hands were beginning to sweat inside his gloves at the thought, and he wiped a hand across his forehead where more sweat was forming. He couldn't let Lindsay see how all of this was scaring him. He took a deep breath and spoke to his wife.

"I'm going to climb into the back and fold down the seats. We'll have you nice and comfy in a New York minute." He risked a look at her and she began to cry.

"Hey… what's the matter?" He asked and realized as soon as the words left his mouth how stupid that must sound.

Way to go Messer. Do you ever think before you speak anymore?

She was sobbing again and he leaned over again to hug and kiss her. Her lips were so soft and warm. God… he might have to deliver his child. This was going to give Flack a huge laugh.

Okay… don't think about Flack and his inappropriate sense of humor, just do what you have to do.

"I'm going to get these seats folded down and make up a bed for ya. Just sit tight Montana and try not to worry." His voice was cheerful and warm, but it quavered just a bit and she shivered again. He climbed into the back of truck and got to work.

Another pain hit and she gritted her teeth around it trying to be silent. The contractions were coming closer. How long would it be? Could Danny actually deliver their baby? What if there was something wrong?

Please God, help us! Please help out child! Please!

"Lindsay," She opened her eyes and his face was right up next to hers. She let out a yelp. "Danny… Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"I've been calling to you for two minutes. What happened? Are you okay, did you have another contraction?" He'd removed his glasses and his blue eyes were pinned to hers, and they were as full of sadness and fear as she'd ever seen before that minute. She put a hand on his face, which was still cold from his latest trip outside.

"I'm sorry I scared you. I was saying a little prayer." She admitted. He smiled wanly and stroked her cheek with one hand.

"I don't blame ya. I've been praying since we crashed." He told her. Her hand on his face gave him strength and he grinned at her. "Come on, yer bed's ready." He helped her clamor over the seats.

"There ya are," She sat down and then lay on the seat which he'd spread with one blanket. He spread another on top of her and lay down next to her.

"Danny… Are we going to be okay?" She asked him, her face turned away from him. She didn't want to look at him if he was unsure. She didn't want to see it in his face if he was afraid.

"Yeah… were going to be okay. The storm will be over soon, and you'll get to have Junior in a nice warm hospital and your family will be there and everything." He lied smoothly to her, wrapping an arm around her and stroking her belly.

"I know you're lying through your teeth, but I appreciate it." She entwined her fingers with his and squeezed his hand.

They talked for a long time about the baby and the names they had discussed. They tried not to be freaked out by how close her contractions were getting. He got up after awhile to turn off the engine of the truck. They had to save gas.

When he returned to the back of the truck and joined her on the makeshift bed she was crying hard once again. "Hey… it's going to be okay."

"My water broke Danny! What are we going to do?"