"Uh-oh!" Ben giggled.
Lindsay looked down at the table, where orange juice was spilling from the plastic cup and quickly spreading all over the table. She hurried to the sink, grabbed a dishrag, and sopped up the mess. "Uh-oh is right," she said to the one year old, scooping him up out of the high chair.
"Mommy, sticky!" Ben said happily, putting his hand on her shirt. Lindsay felt the wet, gooey pulp seep onto her shirt, and winced.
"Ben, that's not nice," she said, frowning at him.
Ben pouted, his tiny pink lower lip sticking out, his large blue eyes turning down at the corners. "Sorry, mommy," he said sadly.
Lindsay laughed at his dramatic sincerity, and shoved the dishcloth around the table to clean up the orange juice. She threw the towel into the sink with a smack and headed into her boys' room. "Jack, are you ready?" she asked, bending in to the doorway.
She saw her oldest on the floor, his feet out in front of him. His tongue was stuck out of his mouth as he tied his shoelaces.
"We're going to be late, honey," Lindsay said, "I'm just going to clean up Benny and then we'll go, OK?" She walked into the bathroom that joined the boys' bedroom with their parents, and sat Benny on the edge of the tub. She turned on the water and pulled off Benny's clothes before setting him on his feet by the lukewarm water.
"Put your hands under the water, Benny," she said, helping him wash off the sticky orange juice.
"Hot, mommy!" Benny shrieked.
Lindsay stuck her fingers under the water, and turned to Benny. "It's not hot, Benny, I promise. See? Feel it."
Benny tentatively stuck an orange-stained hand under the water, and giggled happily when he found that it was pleasantly warm. "Baby hungry, mommy?" Ben asked, pointing to Lindsay's stomach.
Lindsay shook her head. "Not right now," she chuckled, "Have you been talking to your daddy? Did he tell you to ask that?"
Benny covered his ears and shook his head, the truth evident on his baby face. Lindsay lifted him out of the tub, shut off the water, and took him back to the bedroom. She outfitted him in a pair of tiny jeans and a sweatshirt before helping him put on his Velcro sneakers. She set him down to play for a while and went into her and Danny's bedroom to change her stained t-shirt. She pulled on a soft blue t-shirt and hurried back into the boys' bedroom.
"Come on, guys, we're really late now." She took them both by the hand and led them both out of the apartment, stopping to quickly lock the door behind her.
"Daddy!" Ben shrieked, toddling as quickly as he could towards Danny. Jack quickly raced ahead of him, stomping down the hallway to where Danny stood. Danny easily swept Jack up off the floor, then crouched down, waiting for Ben.
When Ben finally reached him, he collapsed onto Danny's other arm. Danny lifted them both up, kissing their cheeks and setting one on each hip. "Were you two good for your mommy?" he asked, walking them over to where Lindsay was walking calmly towards them, her hands in the front pocket on her sweatshirt.
"Yes," Jack said, wrapping an arm around Danny's neck and giggling.
"Yah!" Benny shrieked, bouncing on Danny's arm.
"Gimme a sec with her, got it?" he asked them, neatly letting them both down to the floor of the crime lab. He put a hand on each of their heads and directed them into his and Lindsay's office.
He closed the door behind them and walked over to Lindsay. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her leisurely. "How was it?" he asked.
"You mean the two days of looking after them myself? Fantastic," she said sarcastically.
He chuckled. "I'm so sorry," he said, resting his chin on her head. "Never again, a'right? I'll talk to Mac, make sure next time he picks someone without a family to do this undercover thing."
"Was it really easy? You said so on the phone."
He shrugged. "It was pretty easy. There wasn't much to it, you know?"
"I thought it wasn't our job," she said, mocking his tone from the first day they'd discussed undercover work.
"Well, this was important," Danny said. He and Flack had gone undercover to investigate a child slavery ring. He'd decided, early on in the case, to keep the majority of the details away from Lindsay, specifically the gruesome pictures that had crossed his and Flack's respective desks.
"How're the kids? And the baby?" he asked, pressing one hand flat against her slightly round stomach.
"Shh," she scolded him, "We haven't told anyone here yet, remember? It's a secret until I say."
He rolled his eyes but moved his hand to her back.
"I can't believe you told the boys," she huffed, "They keep asking me if the baby's awake or if he's hungry."
Danny shrugged and grinned. "They're my boys. Speaking of, I think they're bored. You want to head home?"
She nodded, tears starting in her eyes as his arms slowly left her waist. He noticed her sniffing noisily and wrapped his arms around her again. "What?" he asked softly, tugging her closer.
"I just … I missed you," she said, a tear dripping down her face.
He wiped it away with his thumb and held her closer to his body. "I missed you, too, Montana. Never again. I swear."
She nodded and took a shaky breath, her hands closing tightly around his shirt. "I know," she squeaked.
He stayed still for a moment, running his hand through her hair, familiarizing himself with her. He let her bury her way into his shirt and his coat, let her breathe him in and realize that he was really in front of her.
She took a deep inhalation and straightened off of his body. "OK," she sighed.
"Let's go see the boys," Danny said, grinning. He took her hand and led her into the office.