"Alec, why is there a handbag that is neither mine nor Daisy's on our couch?"

Hurried steps on the stairs, a flustered Alec with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up. The couch with the unknown item between them. "You're home early."

"I'm not. It's 6 pm."

"Oh? Well…"

Tess put her hands on her hips, trying her best not to overreact. "I asked you a question. Where does that handbag come from?"

"It's Tatiana's," he sighed.

"Tatiana."

"I can explain it."

"You better do."

"We were called to rescue a…"

More steps. Lighter this time. Daisy appearing in the living room holding a toddler. "Mum, you're home early!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Tess saw Alec's eyes grow huge. A bad, bad sign.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. "Is that Tatiana?"

"No, that's Izabella. Tatiana's daughter. Isn't she cute, mum? Look at the freckles!"

The toddler wiggled in Daisy's arms and stretched them out toward Tess.

Tess kept her hands on her hips. "Ok guys. Does anybody care to explain to me who these people are?"

Izabella clapped her hands excitedly, a trail of drool running down her chin.

"Her mum and her fled from a violent guy and were sleeping rough. With this cold, can you imagine it?" Asked Daisy. "Wanna hold her?"

"No. I mean… where is the moth…"

"Here, let's sit down a moment," Alec took her by an elbow and nudged her toward the sofa. "I'll explain."

Tess sat. "I'm very eager to learn the details."

"As Daisy was saying, the baby's mother was found sleeping in the streets by one of our PCs. Despite speaking almost no English, she agreed to follow him to the nick with her daughter. We guess she is an illegal immigrant who fled a violent environment, but to carry out a proper interview an interpreter would have been needed, but our Russian interpreter seems to be on sickness leave." He sighed.

Tess was taken aback by his flow of words. "And why did you take the baby home?"

"My shift was over, she kept crying, and there was nobody to take care of her. It is just for a couple of hours, Tess. Until the new interpreter arrives and the social services find them a place for tonight. O'Leary will take the mother here, they'll fetch the baby and go to their shelter."

Tess groaned. She had had a killer day at work, and all she had wanted was to kick her shoes off, take a warm shower and have a nice, drama-free evening with her family. Was that too much to ask for?

"Mum, don't be angry. We already changed her and fed her," said Daisy, who was sitting beside her.

"I'm not angry. Well, a bit with your father maybe," she gave Alec The Look, "But I understand it was an emergency. How old is she? What has she eaten?"

Izabella, sensing Tess' eyes on her, stretched again toward her, and this time Tess took the toddler in her lap.

"We don't know. We gave her milk with cookies and she ate three."

Tess scanned the girl, who kept on babbling and smiling at her. "I'd say she's between one and half and two. Ouch! Back off, young lady."

She had grabbed a fistful of Tess' hair and started pulling gleefully at it. As she hard Tess' raised voice, she froze and her lower lip started to quiver. A moment later inconsolable sobs filled the room.

Tess bounced her on her knees, rubbing her back. "Oh dear. Shhh, there now, there is no reason to make such a fuss. We are friends, aren't we?"

Izabella burped and puked a goo of milk and cookies on her white shirt.

* * *

Alec stood, ready to take the girl away from his horrified wife. If there was a thing Tess really hated, it was icky, sticky stuff.

As to confirm his predictions, she creased her brow and looked at the yellowish stains on the front of her pristine shirt, but just asked for a tissue. Alec hurried to fetch her some paper towels from the kitchen and muttered a vague apology.

Izabella kept on crying. Tess rocked her in her arms while staring at him with a raised eyebrow. Alec knew he was going to pay for that.

Daisy picked that moment to decide that, freckles or not, a toddler wasn't so cute when she started wailing, and sneaked back to her room 'because of homework'.

After a few minutes, the girl calmed down and rested in Tess' lap sucking on her own thumb, exhausted. "She needs a bath," she whispered. "Her hair is dirty and she smells funny."

"I know. Daisy and I tried to wash her in the bathroom sink, but as soon as she saw the water she started shrieking."

"She's scared. Even the way she got upset as soon as I raised my voice a notch… This is a scared child, Alec."

Tess might have a point. The circumstances under which the child and her mother had ended up on the streets were still unclear, but for the moment the minor was under his responsibility. Well, sort of. "Do you reckon we should check for signs of abuse?"

Tess exhaled. "My God, Alec."

"Right… sorry. I just wanted to offer her a quiet environment until the guys had found her mother a place for the night." He checked his watch, "a matter that should be settled by now. I'll ring the nick to find out what's going on."

To his surprise, Tess smiled at him. "That's ok, I know you were trying to help. Make that call now, and tell the mother I'll send her the laundry receipt for my shirt."

He smiled back. Despite some recent strains in their marriage due to overwork and everyday life hassles, they still were a team. Everything would be alright.

Except he got lousy news from the nick. Izabella's mother had sneaked away while waiting for the interpreter, and they had lost her tracks.

"Bloody O'Leary says she'll probably come here. How could they lose her, for Christ's sake?"

"Shhh! You're scaring the child."

"Sorry."

"What's in the bag?" Tess beckoned to the battered handbag on the other side of the couch.
"Children's stuff."

"Any clean clothes?"

Alec unzipped it and checked its contents. "Nappies, something like a blanket, a stuffed toy, and yes, baby clothes."

Izabella still in her lap, she wiggled beside him. "Let me see. There, these look like a reasonably clean pajamas. And we could use the stuffed bunny."

As soon as the girl saw the toy, she stretched her arms toward it. "Golick!"

Tess gave her the stained toy and she pushed its tummy. The bunny started to play a lullaby. "Golick is your special friend? You don't understand a word of what we say, do you, little one?"

Something in Tess' voice made his stomach flutter. Images of her playing with a much younger Daisy, telling her bedtime stories cuddled in a way too small bed, came back to his mind. Whydid they seem to belong to a lifetime ago?

* * *

Izabella looked at her with big blue eyes and babbled something in baby Russian. Tess wasn't eager to put her through the stress of a bath now that she seemed to have perked up, but the sad truth was that that adorable toddler simply stinked. She put her down, and Izabella moved a couple wobbly steps and leaned against the coffee table. Where was her mother now? Had she really fled, leaving her child in the hands of strangers? Tess felt anger tugging at the pith of her stomach, but that wasn't time for anger; there was no way she could get hold of the mother, and all she could do was grant that little girl a warm, comfortable night. Which meant a bath, food, sleep.

"Daisy, I need you downstairs!"

At her sudden words, both Izabella and Alec startled. Damnit, she really needed to control the tone of her voice.

The loud call had the desired effect though, and moments later Daisy came galloping down the stairs. "What?"

"I need you to take care of dinner, 'cause your father and I need to give Izabella a bath."

Alec stiffened his back a notch further, and Tess had to stifle a smile. That could turn out to be fun.

"Uh, ok. Pizza night?"

"We have a guest that still wears nappies and that already puked your cookies on my shirt, Dais. I'd say you can microwave some veggies and boil some rice."

"With curry?"

"Why do I even…"

"Just joking! Geez, you must have been a really boring mother." Daisy stuck her tongue out at her and set herself to work in the kitchen.

"Keep on behaving like this, and I'm sending you to a boarding school where you'll have to wear a pinafore!" Tess called after her.

Izabella clutched her bunny.

She had raised her voice again.

The bathtub was ⅓ full, with white foamy bubbles covering the water surface. Tess rolled the sleeves of her shirt to her elbows and told herself that dealing with a young child was like driving a bike: once you have learned it, you can't unlearn it.

"Ok, you can put her in the water now."

"Me? No. Here, do it yourself." Alec tried to gently untangle a fussy Izabella from his arms. "First time I tried she got really upset."

"Don't be a wimp, Detective Inspector. Besides, this is your case."

"I hate you."

Tess sat on the edge of the bathtub. "Do you?"

Alec started to pace up and down, and tried to negotiate a surrender. "Come on wee one. It's just a nice warm bath. You'll feel better afterwards. You'll go to sleep all clean, and dream of …" He glanced at Tess for help, but she just crossed her arms and shrugged. That one was his battle, not hers.

He squinted at her and went on. "And dream of bears, and castles, and cotton candy mountains. Here, look at the bubbles." Alec bent to scoop up some foam with his hand, and after a short hesitation Izabella put her little hand over his and started to play with it.

"Bea!" She shouted pointing toward the bathtub.

Alec took that chance to sit on the tub edge himself. "No, that is Tess. But yeah, close enough."

Tess wrinkled her nose, making Izabella laugh.

A moment later the girl was sitting happily inside, splatting water everywhere. A splash of foam ended up right on Alec's eye.

"Damnit, it stings. I can't see…"

"Ouch. Stay still, don't…" Tess wiped it away with her fingers. "Better?"

"Aye, thanks."

Her hand lingered on his cheek; he looked tired. He had been working so much since he was promoted to the position of DI, and she was worried about his health. The doctor had told them that his arrhythmia was under control, but she knew he had been skipping meals and wasn't getting enough sleep. Their work had always been very important to both of them, and Tess was proud of his commitment and honesty, but she was also starting to wonder what was getting lost during that unrelenting race to do more and better.

That train of thoughts was interrupted by Alec's lips brushing hers. After the initial surprise, Tess smiled and kissed him back, her palm still on his stubbly cheek. Alec closed his eyes and deepened the kiss.

More splashes of water.

Tess snorted and laid her brow against Alec's. "This isn't very professional, detective. We're still working on a case."

"Bea!"

Alec sighed and redirected his attention to the grinning toddler, his breath still a bit short. "Aye, young lady. It's time to wash your hair."

Tess took the sponge out of his hand and started to drip warm water over Izabella's head. "Put on some dry clothes, I can manage this from here."

Both Alec and the the little girl frowned. "Sure?"

"'Course, piece of cake. You go check on Daisy. Remember what happened to the toaster the last time she tried to cook?"

He stood and kissed the top of her head. "Ok, I'll fetch the fire extinguisher."

She smiled as she rinsed shampoo out of Izabella's strawberry blond hair. "Time for some girl chat, uh? You know that when I was a little girl I would have killed for hair like yours?"

The toddler babbled an unintelligible answer and splashed some more water on the bathroom floor.

* * *

After dinner, Daisy took Izabella's hand and gave her a tour of the house while Tess changed into her pajamas. As he was finishing to wash the dishes, Alec got a call from O'Leary: Tatiana, the girl's mother, had turned up at a shelter a few miles from the police station. They were on their way to talk to her, but a social worker had told O'Leary that the woman had panicked, fearing that they would send her back to Ukraine, and fled to the shelter where she used to seek refuge. Apparently, she kept on asking for her daughter.

That was good news, he guessed.

Upstairs, everything was silent. Daisy's door was closed, while that of their bedroom was ajar. He glanced inside and saw Tess lying on her side on the bed, head propped up on the palm of her hand. Izabella was asleep next to her, the stuffed bunny clutched in her little hand.

"The mother is at a shelter."

She raised her eyes to look at him. "Good. Wee Izabella is finally snoozing," she whispered.

Alec sat on the edge of the bed. The only light in the room came from the lamp on his nightstand, and it cast warm reflections both on the girl's and Tess' face.

"I'm calling O'Leary first thing tomorrow morning, but we'll probably need to take her to her mother."

Tess nodded. "I want to make sure she's in good hands though."

"Of course, me too. Well, I guess I'll sleep on the couch tonight?" He fiddled with the hem of his t-shirt, feeling rather daft.

"You can stay if you want. There is plenty of room, and at least we'll be sure she won't roll out of the bed."

"You could put some pillows on my side of the bed…"

"Yes, I could," she shrugged.

"Maybe I'll stay for a while. Just to make sure that everything is ok, you know."

Tess smirked and nodded. "That would make me feel much better."

As soon as he stretched on the bed, the fatigue of the day caught up with him and he started feeling drowsy.

"Look at all these freckles; she could be your daughter. Hey, what do we know about the mother?"

Alec smiled, still looking at the ceiling. "Don't start."

"I'll really need to have a chat with that woman tomorrow."

"Would you like another one?"

"Another what?"

"Child."

She didn't answer, and Alec regretted his question a moment after the words had left his mouth.

After a long pause of silence she exhaled. "No, I don't think I would. Daisy is almost thirteen, and our schedule is already crazy enough. Would you?"

"I don't know. Maybe not, but… I miss the time when Daisy was younger."

"And you think that another child would bring those times back?" She was running her fingers through Izabella's hair now.

"The fact that you asked this question is a sign that you don't, I guess."

Tess' eyebrows drew together. "I don't think that bringing another life into this world would solve our problems."

"So we have problems."

"Don't be a wimp Alec, you know that we have problems. Every couple has. What I was trying to say is that… I'd be happy with what we already have. Today was good. Spending time with you and Daisy to take care of this little girl was fun, and… I wish there were more days like today."

"We spend a lot of time together."

"But it's always work, work, work! We keep on running and running, we keep on asking ourselves and our daughter to do more and better, but what for?"

Alec draw his hands across his face. She had a point. Since he had been made DI he had been working six days a week, and when he came back home he was often too tired or nervous to have quality time with his family. But what else could he do? The workload was heavier than both of them had expected, and yet he couldn't go back, could he? In a way, he felt trapped.

Tess' hand touched his arm. "Hey. I know you're doing your best, and I know that I'm a bloody workaholic as well, just… Just let's try to spend more time together as a family, shall we? In a couple of years Daisy won't probably even be willing to show herself in public with us, so I don't want to waste these last fragments of her childhood. What do you think?"

He kissed her hand. "I think that for once you are right."

"For once?"

"That's a big compliment coming from DI Cupcake."

Tess tried to feign surprise, but her mouth curled in a smile. "Cupcake?"

"Come on, I know the guys call me so. It's not so bad after all."

"Oh, they don't trust me with their gossip. You know, I shag the boss." She gave his arm a little tug and curled under the covers with Izabella. "Time to go to sleep, Cupcake."

"Yeah."

Tess switched the lamp off. The only source of light now was the rectangular frame of the window, from which seeped a pearly cold gleam. It had to be a full moon night, but of course he hadn't noticed. "Tess?"

"Uh."

"I think I'll sleep here after all."

Her voice was muffled by the pillow. "Just to make sure that everything is ok?"

He smiled. "Yeah."

"Peachy."

A few moment later a light snoring filled the room.