Disclaimer: I don't own any of it, and since I don't own any of it, I'm not making any money off of it. Writing is cheaper than therapy; it's as simple as that.

Lindsay Monroe tiredly hauled herself up off the bathroom floor. She flushed the toilet one final time and stood in front of the sink, taking in her appearance before brushing her teeth and washing her face.

"Pregnant glow my ass," she grumbled bitterly at her reflection. The red flush of her face was a combination of her crying and the physical exertion of morning, noon and night sickness. Her first bout of the evening had occurred simply because she could smell her neighbors cooking as she came down the hall from work, and her growing fetus had a rather vigorous reaction to the fragrance of sautéing peppers. A strong enough reaction, in fact, that she knew Danny wasn't going to be able to make anything with peppers in it for at least the next little while, if not until she had the baby. That thought got her to thinking about their exchange in the locker room, and how he had reacted to her news of the pregnancy. Sure he'd touched her hand in the precinct, but she wasn't sure what that meant as he hadn't said anything before excusing himself to go back to work. And that thought, led her to start crying, which somehow led to another bout of vomiting.

As she left the restroom, she knew she needed to talk to someone. Normally she would call Stella or, lately, even Hawkes as they were always willing to listen to her and give sound advice, but neither knew she was pregnant, and she didn't want to tell anyone else at the lab about the baby until she had notified Mac. "Hearing this through the office grape vine would be all sorts of bad," she mumbled as she grabbed her cell and headed for the living room. This left only one other person in the world she could talk to about this. Quickly, Lindsay dialed the familiar number and prayed that someone would answer.

"Monroe residence," an older woman's voice answered.

"Mom," Lindsay was unable to keep her emotions in check as her voice cracked and a few tears slid, unbidden, down her cheeks.

"Lissie," Lydia Monroe questioned. When Lindsay, the youngest of five and the only girl, had been born, her next oldest sibling, William, was only two-and-a-half and couldn't pronounce Lindsay, so he called her Lissie; and soon the whole family started calling her that. "Honey, are you alright? What's wrong? Is it the baby? Did something happen?"

"What's wrong with Button," she heard her father, Frank Monroe asking, using another one of her nicknames. Lydia shushed him before quickly leaving the room to find out what was wrong with her daughter.

"Honey, what happened," she finally asked when she closed the door to an empty bedroom.

"He knows Mom," she sniffled into the phone quietly.

"Well that was inevitable."

"I know, and I intended on telling him, I did. I just…" she trailed off not sure what to say next.

"You just what, sweetie?"

"I just didn't think he'd find out before I had a chance to sit him down and tell him."

"How did he find out," Lydia gently fished for the information her daughter needed to give, but was reluctant to.

"I went to the clinic yesterday, for my first sonogram, and I was planning to tell him last night once I knew everything was okay, but he was there. The clinic's card was found on the victim in our case," Lindsay explained, silently thanking her mother for her never ending patience when it came to her daughter.

"It's that stupid boy again, isn't it? He did something to make my baby cry again, didn't he," Lindsay heard her father say, having obviously entered the room.

"Frank! Would please just let me talk to her and find out what is going on? All I know is that she's upset."

"That damn boy, I tell you! He's left her to deal with the baby all on her own, hasn't he? Stupid city slicker thinks he can treat my daughter like shit and…"

"Frank," Lydia abruptly cut off his tirade. "Why don't you be a darling and go make me a cup of tea, and bring me a few cookies too."

Lindsay heard the door close as her dad wisely chose to do what her mother had asked, and couldn't help but giggle at his reaction. "Daddy's nothing if not devoted and protective,"

"He just wants the best for you, sweetheart."

"I know," Lindsay sighed.

"Just like you want what's best for your baby," Lydia gently guided the conversation back to the original topic.

"I do."

"How is the baby?"

"She's wonderful! Doctor says she's growing just like they would expect," her demeanor lightened noticeably at talking about her child-to-be.

"She?"

"It's just a feeling I have. Danny would probably argue that it's a boy until he's blue in the face, if…" her voice trailed off, a fresh wave of tears threatening to fall.

'And here lies the problem,' Mrs. Monroe thought, but instead of voicing this, she just encouraged, "If what, sweetie?"

"If he were actually going to be around."

"He said he didn't want anything to do with the pregnancy or baby," Lydia was shocked. She'd never met Danny Messer, and when she did she planned on giving him a firm slap upside the head and a good talking to about how he'd treated her daughter, but she didn't think he would walk away from her and the baby, especially not when he'd actually been trying to make things work between the young couple.

"I knew it! I'm gonna fly out there the first chance I get and kill that little good for nothing…"

"Frank," Lydia cut off her husband's tirade once again. "Thank you for the tea and cookies, now either go away or shut up so I can talk to her!"

"You can always come home, Button," was the last thing she heard over the phone before her father left the room.

"He would love that, wouldn't he," she mumbled bitterly.

"Daddy loves you, Lissie. And he's worried about you. He always has been. He just wants to know you're safe and being taken care of."

"I know," she had to admit that she understood how her father felt. Even just being newly pregnant, she already wanted what was best for her baby, whether Danny was in their lives or not. "I just wish he was more supportive of the choices I've made. It's my life to live; not his." Truth be told, Lindsay's relationship with Frank had gotten better since she moved to New York, but they still weren't best friends or anything; not like she and her mother. She talked to her mom at least once a week, and told her everything, but her dad, she only talked to him, on average, twice a month.

"So, did Danny actually say that he wanted no part of being a father," again Lydia guided the conversation back on track.

"No."

"Then what did he say?"

"He asked me if I was sure, and when I showed him the sonogram photo, he asked how long I'd known, and that's about it. We went back to work, and haven't talked about it since. Even when the case wrapped up this afternoon, he just stood there with me for a minute then went back to work."

"Maybe he's still in shock, and just needs some time to process the situation."

"The last time he needed time to process something that had happened he cheated on me." Even if Danny hadn't been willing or able to admit to his infidelity, Lindsay knew in her heart of hearts that he had cheated. She had a feeling it had been with Rikki, but until he admitted it, she couldn't be absolutely certain.

"That was a different situation honey," the elder Monroe thought back on the conversation she'd had with her daughter the day after her co-worker and friend's apartment building had burned down. "Everyone processes trauma and grief differently. Now, I am in no way condoning what he did or how he treated you, because that's inexcusable, but maybe that's the only way he knew to deal with his feelings at the time."

"So, what if he decides to react that way again with this," after everything that they had been through, that was Lindsay's deepest fear, that the next time something bad happened to someone he cared about, Danny would again shut himself off from her and turn to someone else for physical comfort.

"I honestly don't think that he would do that, but I do think that you need to sit him down and make him talk to you about this. Unlike you, Danny has the luxury of being able to walk away from this, which is why you need to confront him about his thoughts and feelings. If he's going to bail on you and the baby, its best that you know now instead of at the end of your pregnancy or when you're trying to adjust to life with a newborn; don't you think," she saw no good in sugar coating things for her daughter, so Lydia just said what she was thinking. That was something she appreciated about her relationship with Lindsay; she could do that.

"I suppose you're right. I'm just afraid that he will leave, and I'll be all alone again. I just got him back, I'm not ready to say good bye again Mom," Lindsay was being brutally honest with her feelings, knowing that it was safe to do that with her Mom.

"I'm sure you are Lindsay, but that's a risk that you're going to have to take. No one ever said being a grown up, and having grown up relationships, with grown up problems was going to be easy, but I know you can handle it, no matter what the outcome."

The doorbell ringing kept Lindsay from replying in the way she would have liked. "Thanks, Mom. Someone is at the door, so I have to go, but I'll talk to you again in a day or two."

"Alright honey, you take care of yourself, you hear? My grandchild is depending on you to do that. And make sure you eat. I know you probably don't feel like it, so try and eat small meals frequently. It'll be good for you and the baby," she offered advice from her previous experiences with pregnancy.

"Thanks Mom. Whoever is out there is getting impatient so I better go. Tell Daddy I love him and that I'll talk to him the next time I call," she started towards the door as the doorbell rang three more times in quick succession.

"Alright, I'll tell him. Just talk to Danny, and know that I'm here to talk whenever you need me, 24/7. I mean that, Lissie."

"I know. Bye Mom. Love you."

"I love you too honey and so does daddy," with that Lindsay ended the call and sat her phone on the table next to the door, before she looked in the peephole and drew in a deep breath when she saw who was on the other side.

"Danny, hi," she said quietly as she pulled open the door.

"Hey. Can I come in," he asked walking into her apartment, knowing that the upcoming conversation wasn't going to be easy. He'd caused her so much pain in the past months, and he was determined to not do that this time, even if his reaction the past couple of days had been less then desirable.

"How are you," she asked, unsure of his intentions at the moment.

"We need to talk," he stated plainly and followed her into the living room as she nodded in agreement.

"I know that I didn't exactly react the best way when you told me about the baby, and today, I should have really said something instead of just going back to work."

"Like I told you yesterday, I'm not expecting anything from you. I want this baby, Danny, and I'm having it with or without you."

"Yeah, about that, you should be able to expect the world from me, Montana. And as to the other thing, I'm not going anywhere. I fully intend on being here for you and the baby. I'm gonna be a good dad," he stated resolutely.

"I wish I could, I really do, but with everything that's happened lately, I'm just having a hard time believing in you and how committed you are to us," she went for honesty, taking her mother's advice and deciding to lay it all out on the table.

"You mean the whole Rikki thing and pushing you away," it wasn't a question, but a statement.

"Yes, pushing me away, but also cheating on me with her," Lindsay laid out her suspicion of what he had done, and when he nodded regrettably that her assumption was correct, she felt the tears run down her cheeks. Having the feeling that you've been cheated on and having that suspicion confirmed were two different things, and the confirmation hurt….it hurt a lot.

"I'm so sorry," regret filled his voice as he took her face in his hands and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Like I told you the night we got back together, that is never going to happen again, I promise. I can be the guy that you want me to be, the guy that you need me to be. Just give me the chance to prove that to you; to the both of you. I won't let you down this time Lindsay," he said as he pulled her into his arms and held her firmly, against his chest.

"I don't want to lose you again," she admitted.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm in this for the long haul. We're going to have a baby," he whispered into her hair as his hand traveled down to rest on her slightly swollen belly.

In response, Lindsay just wrapped her arms around his waist as she buried her face in his chest and nodded.