I hope you guys don't get sick of me posting all in a row, but it's the holiday season and I can think of no better time to spoil those around me!!! Plus, it feels really good to be writing and posting again – it's been too long!!!

OK, this one comes from 6.11 and is based on the conversation between Stella and Danny about Lucy's first word. I realize that a lot of people have run with this theme, but I say the more the merrier!!! (Can you tell it's the holiday season yet??? :P)

Once again, I own nothing but the mistakes you may find in this.

This is my last one, so I just want to wish you all a Happy Holiday season one more time!!!!!!!!! Enjoy!!!!


Ratted Out

Danny Messer thought it was a little ridiculous that his wife Lindsay made him promise to not say 'Boom' until Lucy had finally said her first word, but he realized that it truly mattered to Lindsay that their daughter's first word wasn't some stupid little phrase that he said (and she sometimes said, too) when he made a discovery at work or when he was happy. Danny therefore decided that he would teach Lucy to say 'Mama'. It seemed like a win-win to him: Lindsay would be so proud that Lucy's first word was connected to her and Danny could say 'Boom' again.

For a week, Danny had been working with Lucy whenever they were alone, and his idea was just about to pay off.


"C'mon Lucy, you can do it, say 'Mama'."

"Mmmm."

"Good job. Keep going. 'Mama'."

"Mmmmaa."

"Almost there, that's my girl. 'Mama'."

"Mma-mma."

"You did it!!" Danny proceeded to pick her up off the floor, stand up and twirl her around the room, much to her delight and squeals. "Don't tell Mama, but Boom!"

"Ma-ma."

Danny really wanted to tell Lindsay about what had happened, but he knew it would be better to surprise her with this. Lindsay was due back just around Lucy's bedtime, so while he fed Lucy and got her ready for bed, he decided to get her to practice her first word. He would periodically throw 'Mama' into his babbling with Lucy, and each time she would repeat it back to her daddy. Danny was now confident that she could say the word, but he hoped and prayed that Lucy would say it to Lindsay.


As he left Lucy's room, Lindsay came walking through the door, right on time.

"Hey babe," she called out to him with a smile.

"Hey yourself. I just put Lucy down, so if you hurry, you should be able to say goodnight to her before she falls asleep."

Lindsay's grin grew wider. "Great." She quickly put her gun next to Danny's at the back of the top shelf of the front closet, plopped her bag down on the living room floor, and stopped long enough to give Danny a quick kiss before continuing onto the nursery.

Danny waited for a couple of seconds before quietly following her and standing just outside the nursery, out of Lindsay's eyesight but close enough to hear (hopefully) an exchange between his two favourite girls.

"Hey Lucy, how's my favourite little girl doing?"

"Ma-ma."

Danny heard his wife gasp and then heard silence. When Lindsay spoke again, he could hear the excitement in her voice. "Say it again, please Lucy?"

"Ma-ma!" Lucy added more enthusiasm this time, based on Lindsay's reaction.

"DANNY!! GET IN HERE NOW!!"

Danny quickly schooled his features to hide the gigantic smile on his face and entered the nursery, trying to act concerned. "Lindsay, what's going on?"

"Nothing's wrong, I promise. Lucy just said her first word!!" The look of elation on Lindsay's face told Danny that he had done the right thing by surprising her.

"She did? What was it?"

"She said 'Mama'." Lindsay said proudly.

Lucy, following what she had been doing most of the evening with Daddy, repeated the word. "Ma-ma!!" The little girl wasn't completely sure what was so exciting about her making a noise, but she could see that each time she said it, it made both Mommy and Daddy very happy, and she liked when they were happy.

"Good job Lucy! That's my girl, I'm so proud of you. You said your first word." Danny reached forward to tickle her belly and kiss her cheek.

It was then that Lucy remembered when she first made the noise and Daddy was so happy, he made another noise, one she recognized from other times when he was happy. Lucy wasn't sure if she could make that noise, but she decided to try.

" 'oom!"

Lindsay looked between father and daughter with a suspicious look, and noticed the shock and sheepish looks that quickly passed over Danny's face before he tried to conceal them. With a mildly amused look on her own face, Lindsay spoke again.

"I wanna see how you're gonna get yourself out of this one, Messer."

"I, uhhh…"

"You promised, Danny!"

"But it was her second word, not her first!!" Danny knew he was grasping at straws, but he didn't want to get into trouble with his wife for what he had done.

Lindsay returned Lucy to her crib and tucked her back in and kissed her goodnight before turning to leave the room, motioning for Danny to follow her.

Alone once again with his daughter, Danny stared down at her. "You ratted me out, kid."

" 'oom!!"

Danny chuckled a little before kissing her and leaving the nursery, looking for Lindsay.

He found her sitting on the couch, arms crossed on her chest waiting for an explanation.

Staring down at his feet, Danny began to rush through what had happened. "I know that it was really important to you that Lucy's first word wasn't 'Boom', so I decided to work with her on saying 'Mama' when you weren't here. Yeah, part of it was so that I could say 'Boom' again without getting smacked, but I wanted her first word to be connected to you – I know how much that would mean to you. I've been working with her for the past week, and I finally got her to say it earlier on. I didn't call you because I wanted it to be a surprise, and I can see that you were surprised, but in a good way. After she said it the first time, I told her not to tell you and I said 'Boom'. Yeah it was stupid, but I never thought she would repeat it, she had only just said her first word minutes earlier. All night she and I have been practicing, and she's been saying 'Mama' each time after I said it, but I wasn't sure that she would say it to you without being prompted, so I was standing outside the nursery and listening in when you went in there, and all you did was say one thing and she repeated it to you and…"

Danny's rambling was cut off when he felt Lindsay's hand cover his mouth. Lifting his eyes to hers, he saw that she had been crying a little bit, and his hands instinctively came up to wipe away her tears. One of her hands came up and smacked him on the chest.

"That's for saying 'Boom' when you promised not to."

"C'mon Linds…" He was cut off again, this time by her mouth covering his in a searing kiss. When they finally broke apart minutes later, both gasping for breath, she spoke again.

"That's for teaching our daughter her first word, and instead of making it 'Dada', you taught her to say 'Mama'."

"It was easier to get her to say 'Mama', the 'd' is too hard. Trust me, I took the easy way out. You've got to be starving, let's go make something for dinner together, what do you say?"

"Sounds great, let's do it."

Lindsay knew that Danny was changing the subject on purpose, likely because he didn't think that what he had done such a big deal, and she was willing to let him do so.

It gave her more time to think about how to repay him…


OK, so I realize that I wrote a backdoor sequel into the end of this one, but before I continue on, I'd like to know what you guys think: should I leave it as it is and let your imaginations come up with how Lindsay repaid him, or do you want to see what I had in mind for the sequel (it's already done)?

Thanks for reading!!!