A/N I currently have a lot of things in the works, that's why i haven't posted in awhile. Another piece of "Little Moments Like That" Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
"Well, don't you look cute!" don laughed as he walked into the bedroom to find his wife in a short denim skirt that hit her mid thigh and a fitted black tank top that exposed and inch or two of her midriff. On the front of the shirt is said Montana Night and it had the current date on the back. Jess looked up from putting on her ankle boots.
"Oh good, you're home. You don't think this skirt is too short do you?" She asked, standing up.
"I don't think I'm the one that should answer that question" He replied, blushing slightly. Jess rolled her eyes.
"It's Lindsay's surprise bachelorette party, this is the dress code we decided on" She explained.
"You girls are going to be breaking hearts!" Don exclaimed in a funny voice.
"Shut up!" Jess gasped, playfully smacking him. She looked in the mirror to make sure her hair and makeup were in order, then she left the room. Don couldn't stop himself from watching her leave, her hips swaying in that tiny jean skirt.
Jess went through her mental checklist making sure she had everything she'd need for the party.
"Alright Don, I'm taking off" She said as he walked into the room carrying a sleeping Maeli.
"Ok, are you going to be back tonight?" He question, still unclear as to what the plans were even those she had already gone over them with him a couple times.
"Yeah, but it will be late and don't worry, we rented a limo so none of us will be driving. I'm catching a cab to Melody's and the limo is picking us up there." She answered.
"Ok, be safe and have fun. Love you" He added.
"Love you too" She replied kissing him and then their daughter and leaving.
Once on the street, she caught a cab to Mel's apartment.
"Oh my God, Jess!" Mel exclaimed when she opened the door.
"What?" Jess giggled.
"You look amazing! I hope I look that good five months after having a baby!" Mel pointed out.
"Well thanks girl!" She smiled.
"I'm almost ready to go, just make yourself comfortable."Melody stated, inviting Jess in and taking off towards the bedroom. Jess walked through her friend's apartment. She approached the bookshelf in the living room. She noticed a bunch of picture frames filled with pictures of either Adam or Adam and Melody together. In one of the pictures Adam stood in a pair of green boxers and a Mario Kart t-shirt with a goofy grin and his hair stuck out in all directions. Jess had to laugh at the sight her coworker in such a disheveled state. She lifted a picture frame from the back of the shelf. She looked down at the picture of Adam and Mel sitting face to face on a cement bench, kissing. She smiled, noting how truly cute the couple was. Jess looked up when heard Melody reenter the room. Her outfit was nearly identical to Jess's and her blonde hair was curled into perfect ringlets.
"Ready?" Jess wondered, putting the picture back.
"Yeah and the guy just called, the limo is downstairs" Mel informed.
"Cool, and your hair looks adorable by the way" Jess complimented.
"Thanks" Mel grinned.
"Ok, we have to go to Danny's to get Lauren, then we're off to the lab to pick up Stella and the guest of honor." Jess laid out the plan.
"Have you met Lauren?" Melody asked as they left the apartment.
"No, Stella and Danny were the ones who picked her up from the airport on their lunch break
today." Jess answered, climbing into the limo.
The door off Danny and Lindsay's apartment opened to find a short thin woman with short dark hair cut in pixie style in and outfit identical to the two standing outside the door.
"You must be Lauren, I'm Jess" Jess introduced herself.
"I'm Melody" Mel added shyly.
"Well, nice to meet you both! I dug around in Lindsay's drawers a little bit and found her denim skirt and I have her red tank top. Anything else she needs?" Lauren asked.
"Shoes" Mel mentioned.
"Right, I'll go see what I can find" Lauren laughed, heading back to the bedroom.
Stella gasped as she checked the clock; she shuffled her papers into a stack and ran towards the locker room. She pulled off her slacks and slid into her skirt and replaced her sweater with the black tank top. She kicked her boots off and stepped into a pair of patent leather pumps. A low whistle from the doorway of the room caught her attention. Before she looked up she vowed she would punch whoever made the noise. When she found Mac standing there, her irritation dissipated.
"Hey" Her said quietly.
"Hey, I'm getting ready for Lindsay's bachelorette party, the girls should be here any minute." Stella explained, turning towards the mirror.
"Well you look great" Mac commented looking her up and down.
"Thanks, I'll be home late" she said giving a quick kiss and flying out of the room towards the front door of the lab. Her two friends and the woman she picked up at the airport that afternoon were just walking through the door. "You all look great!" Stella gushed. They all sent her some sort of thanks.
"Where's Linds?" Jess asked.
"I don't know, I say we find her" Stella suggested. The girls all started down the hall, getting looks from every direction. It wasn't often four women walked through the lab in matching clothing, especially not in short skirts and tank tops. It wasn't long until they came across Danny.
"Hey cute shirts" He mused at their clever idea. "She's in her office" He announced.
"Great, thanks Danny, for everything. We'll take care of your girl" Stella replied.
"You better, Stel" He warned light heartedly.
Lindsay yelped as hands clasped over her eyes. She tried to spin in her chair, but who ever held her captive wouldn't let her.
"Surprise!" She heard four female voices yell. The hands moved from her eyes and she spun to face whoever was in the office. She gasped when she saw her two coworkers and three friends standing before her.
"Come on, you need to change for your bachelorette party!" Lauren prodded.
"Lauren! What are you doing here?" Lindsay gasped finally realizing her best friend from Montana was standing in her office. She jumped to give the girl a hug.
"It just wouldn't be a bachelorette party with out the maid of honor. Danny flew me in for the weekend." Lauren explained shoving clothes and shoes in her friend's direction. "Change" She playfully demanded.
"Oh, uh, ok, I'll be right back" Lindsay sputtered, leaving for the locker room. Lauren turned towards Stella, Jess and Mel to review plans for the rest of the night. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed someone staring through the glass wall of the office they were in.
"Ok, I'm sorry, this is really bothering me, who is that guy and what is he doing?"She acknowledged. Jess and Stella immediately recognized who it was.
"Mel, hon" Jess got her attention pointing to towards the hallway where Adam was standing.
"Oh, I'll just, uh, be right back" Melody spit out, running into the hallway to greet her boyfriend.
"He is?" Lauren was still confused.
"Melody's boyfriend Adam, he's a lab tech. He's not as creepy as he seems, he's actually really sweet" Stella aided in clearing things up. Lauren nodded.
Seconds later, Lindsay reentered the room in an outfit very similar to those of her friends except her tank top was red. Danny entered the room a second later. Lindsay ran at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him soundly.
"Thank you so much!" She squealed.
"No problem babe, have fun!" He replied kissing her temple and leaving.
"Everybody ready?" Jess asked once Mel finished talking to Adam. Noises of approval filled the room.
"Let's do this!" Lindsay smiled, now completely in the mood for a party.
The surprises kept on coming when Lindsay stepped outside and saw the long sliver escalade limo parked in front of the lab.
"Girls! This is crazy!" she giggled.
"We just want you to have a good time" Jess replied.
Their first stop was to a restaurant Jess, Lindsay, Stella and Mel visited regularly for girls night out.
"You guys are so great! I still can't believe you did this for me! Lauren, I can't believe you're here, especially since you have to be here in two weeks for the wedding" Lindsay gushed once they were seated.
"You really have to thank Danny. We just went to him with the idea and he really pulled it all together.
"I'll thank him later" Lindsay said with a sly smile and wiggling her eyebrows.
"Woah, what happened to innocent little Lindsay Monroe?" Lauren gasped.
"She moved to New York" Stella pointed out, causing more laughs around the table.
"Does everybody know Lauren?" Lindsay wondered.
"By name, but that's about it" Jess answered.
"Ok then I'll do some quick introductions" Lindsay too it upon herself. "Everybody, this is Lauren Ingersoll. She has been my best friend since middle school. She's in charge of marketing at a large company in Montana. Her husband's name is Tyson and they have a two year old son Braden." She rattled off as if she were reading a case file.
"Oh good, I'm not the only old married woman here" Jess smiled.
"That's Jess or Jessica Angell err well Jessica Flack, I guess" Lindsay began.
"You have a lot of names, my new friend" Lauren said in a goofy voice.
"Ah yes, I am the woman with many names, helps keep a low profile" Jess joked.
"Shut up!" Lindsay protested, breaking up their banter. "She is Jessica Flack, married to Detective Don Flack Jr., so at work she is Detective Angell so we don't have two Flacks running around." Lindsay clarified.
"It's Jess, that's all you need to know" Jess whispered, blocking her mouth with her hand to pretend to exclude Lindsay from the conversation. Stella and Melody were dying laughing at the little show between their friends.
"Whatever!" Lindsay huffed in mock frustration.
"sorry, sorry continue" Lauren pulled herself together.
"Thank you, so she's a detective, married to a detective and they have a five month old baby girl named Maeli." Lindsay finished finally.
"Aww five months, that's such a fun age!" Lauren commented.
"We're certainly enjoying it, with her sleeping through the night and discovering new things everyday." Jess agreed.
"ok, so next is Stella Bonasera, detective and CSI who should be together with Mac Taylor" Lindsay said with a pointed look. Jess, still being the only one who knew about them, watched as Stella blushed and glanced down at the palm of her left hand. Jess was confused by the action, but would bring it up later. "Last but not least, we have Melody Karson, Lab Tech Adam Ross' girlfriend and she works out of her apartment as an accountant. " Lindsay finally finished the introductions.
"And this is the fine Lindsay Monroe, our country girl CSI from Montana who will be marrying the stud Danny Messer in two weeks" Jess chimed in playfully mocking her friend.
"Man Jess, you are on it tonight!"Mel cried wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes.
"Sorry, I'm a mom now and with an infant at home, I don't get out much." Jess shrugged. The table erupted with laughter once more.
Conversation continued through dinner with enough laughter to get odd looks from other patrons.
"Alright, before we move on, I'm going for a bathroom break" Stella announced.
"Count me in" Jess said, getting up to follow the detective.
As the two washed their hands, Jess noticed Stella being particularly careful when scrubbing her left hand. Jess had seen that Stella giving much attention to her hand many times during dinner and looking at it now she saw black writing on the olive skin. Impulsively, Jess reached for Stella's wrist to solve the mystery floating in her mind. Stella tried to pull away and balled her hand into a fist.
"Jess…" Stella began, not really knowing where she was going with the statement.
"Stel, I know about you and Mac. I've known since before Maeli was born" Jess reassured her friend.
"How?" Stella was skeptical of Jess's admission.
"Mac told me, I'm not sure why. It was right before I left for maternity leave, I think he was taking pity on the pregnant woman" Jess explained. Stella smiled. "So what's on your hand?" Jess inquired. Stella slowly opened her hand. Jess read the writing and took in the other markings on the hand in front of her.*** Her brown eyes widened as they met Stella's green ones. "Mac proposed?" Jess was confused.
"Not exactly, we just had a conversation about getting married and Mac decided to conduct and experiment with a black sharpie." Stella answered.
"That's still really sweet" Jess added as they exited the bathroom. "And yes, I know it's a secreted" She mentioned, successfully removing the hint of worry from Stella's eyes.
After dinner the party moved to a little country bar. Mel, Stella, Lauren and Jess managed to get Lindsay on stage with the small band. Stella handed the lead singer an index card with some instructions on it.
"Ok everybody, this is Lindsay and it's her bachelorette party" The man announced into the microphone. The crowd cheered. "I have to ask, what does Montana Night stand for? I notice it's on your shirts" He asked.
"Well, my fiancé calls me Montana because that's where I'm from and the night stands fro the fact that this is my part and well, it's my night."Lindsay explained.
"Awesome, your friends here have given me a card with a few things on it. First it says that I need a man to buy Lindsay a beer!" The singer stated. The fiddle player climbed off stage and returned shortly with a bottle and handed it to Lindsay. "Aww, Jimmy that was sweet" He laughed. "Now it says Lindsay is going to marry a guy named Danny, I want to know if there is a guy named Danny in this bar! If your name is Danny, please approach the stage for a kiss on the cheek and a picture with the bride to be!" The singer continued. About five semi sober guys clomped towards the stage. "Ok Lindsay, your men await. I wish you the best of luck sweetheart" He finished, helping Lindsay off stage. She took her picture with the Dannys then hit the dance floor. The night was danced away to songs like T-R-O-U-B-L-E, Good Little Girls, and, Fishing In the Dark. Although all five women were exhausted, they were for the most part sober since one of them had the late shift tomorrow, one had to do some accounting, and another had a baby to take care of. The limo dropped each of them off at their respective apartments and all they were left with were happy memories and digital pictures.
Don was confused to find himself alone in bed. He specifically remembered Jess telling him she made it home. He walked through the apartment to find her fully clothed down to her boots and dead asleep on the couch.
"Jessie?" He said softly, kneeling down next t her.
"Yeah?" she said, slowly opening her eyes.
"Are you hung over?" He asked with a laugh.
"I couldn't be. I only had two beers. I'm too old to get drunk." She grinned.
"That's not true Miss Jessica. In fact, I think I got you drunk last weekend" He countered with a wink.
"Exactly, YOU got me drunk" She pointed out. Don gave her a look that said who me? Never!.
"Why don't you go to bed, you'll be much more comfortable" He suggested.
"Mmm, too tired" she groaned, burying her head in the pillow of the couch.
"Then at least take your boots off, that can't be comfortable and who knows what you're getting on the couch."He continued
"I'm fine" She mumbled.
"Seriously, hon, those things have to be killing your feet" He assumed.
"We danced all night, I'm trying to ignore them" She replied, silence fell between them as Don messed around in the kitchen, finishing off dishes he'd left behind the night before and warming up a bottle for Maeli. "Don't you have to work today?" Jess's voice broke through the quiet.
"I thought you were tired" Don laughed.
"I am, but don't you have to work?" She repeated herself.
"Yes, I have a four to ten" He answered, now finished in the kitchen, he shoved the bottle into the pocket of his basketball shorts. "Come on, I'll take you to bed" He offered. Jess sat up and gave her hands to him. He pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You should dress like this more often" He whispered. A smile crept across her face. She smelled of cigarette smoke and beer with just a trace of her perfume in the mix. Still he kissed her slowly and slipped his hands up under the tight tank top. She kicked her legs up to wrap around his waist. He carried her off to the bedroom, only breaking the kiss when the need for air was necessary. He gently set her down on the bed.
"You get comfortable, I'm going to go get Maeli, I'll be right back." Don said turning towards the nursery. "Hey there baby girl!" He cooed when he saw his daughter laying her crib, her big blue eyes staring up at him. She smiled when she recognized her dad. "You ready for breakfast?" He asked lifting her up. She gurgled and giggled. He produced the bottle from his pocket and surrendered it to the child. She stuck a tiny hand on either side of the bottle, holding it for herself. "Let's go see Mommy" He said carrying her off to the other room.
Jess was curled up in bed in Don's academy sweatshirt and a pair of shorts. Don climbed in next to her, still feeding Maeli.
"Hey" Jess said softly as her daughter released the bottled and reached for her. "Ok ok, come here sweetie" She gave in, taking the child and the bottle.
"So did you guys have fun last night?" Don wondered.
"Yeah, we had a really good time. That Lauren is really cool. She's a lot like Lindsay, but a little more outspoken" She replied.
"That's cool, I'm really glad you fun. I know it's hard for you to get out as much as you'd like with Maeli around." He added.
"Yeah, but you deserve to get out too, you do just as much as I do" She acknowledged.
"I know, that's why I going to the bachelor party next week" He fired back with a smile. Jess just shook her head, knowing that will be a crazy night, the boys don't tend to have the same sense to keep it tame like the girls did. He handed Maeli back to her husband and snuggled into the blankets. Don looked at the child in his arms again. "what do you say we let Mommy get some sleep?" He asked. She giggled in response. He kissed Jess lightly then left the room.
*** To find out what Stella's hand said...you have to go read the Smacked companion piece "Sharpie Experiment"