A/N: I MISS SEASON FIVE!!! :( It sucks not writing the post ep oneshots.
But I do have a little somethin' somethin'! T'is a oneshot based off of "Stealing Cinderella" By Chuck Wicks. If you haven't heard it - go youtube it! It's such a lovely song!
Thank you to Amy for giving me the song! Wubz!
Completely disregards the horrific diner scene in the finale. GRRR! :( All Summer? Really? Seriously?
Gah!
Anyway. Hope you like! x
Lindsay smiled brightly as she ran her index finger over her four-year-old face staring up at her in a photo album.
"See, Lucy – this was mommy when she was a little girl." Lindsay smiled at her daughter who was balanced on Lindsay's lap and resting with her back against her knees. Lindsay picked up the photo album and fixed it upright against her chest, open, so that it was facing Lucy. She smiled as she pointed at her four-year-old self. "See, contrary to what I will tell you – mommy jumped on the bed too."
Lucy giggled softly and flailed her arms forward.
Lindsay smiled as she ran her index finger down Lucy's face and prodded her chubby cheek as she placed the photo album on the floor where it had been before.
Lindsay smiled fondly at the image of her fifth birthday party. Kelly, Ashley, Kaley and herself in a tight embrace with huge grins on their faces stood outside her parent's ranch in their bathing suits. Her daddy had promised her for months and months on end that she could have a sprinkler party for her birthday.
Now, Lindsay kicked herself for begging to have such a cheap birthday party.
Although - granted it was cheap - the memories she had from that May afternoon were priceless and she would treasure the giggles she could still hear ringing in her ears for the rest of her life.
She turned the page and smiled at her on Kelly's pony aged six. She had been terrified initially. But her dad had waved across the field and snapped the picture of the terror in her eyes. Lindsay had then taken a deep breath and set to on getting used to being on the pony.
She had then spent three hours attached to the horse everyday for that whole summer.
Lindsay blinked back a tear as she glanced down at her baby daughter and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I wish they could have seen you, meet you and love you as much as I do." Lindsay sighed as she set her head against Lucy's tiny and delicate one. "They would have spoiled you rotten. And loved you to death. I miss them, you know…"
Lucy fussed and squirmed away from Lindsay who moved and sat back, so she was resting against the base of the couch. She quickly wiped her tears and pushed the photo album away from her. "You hungry sweetie?"
Lucy fussed as she grabbed Lindsay's finger with her tiny fist and let out a soft cry.
"Come on then, muffin, let's go lay down and have a nap after some lunch. Daddy won't be home for hours…" Lindsay sighed sadly. "I love you, but god I miss being at work with daddy sometimes."
Lucy let out a small, but shrill cry as Lindsay wrapped the baby girl in her arms and used the couch to push her up to her feet. "I'm getting good at that." She giggled to the cranky baby in her arms as she headed to her and Danny's bedroom.
Lindsay nudged open the bedroom door with her foot and sighed as she looked at the crumpled mess of the bed. She placed Lucy in her carrier that was sat on the floor at the foot of the Queen sized bed in Danny and Lindsay's room. Lindsay strapped the baby in before quickly tidying up and chucking all of Danny's dirty clothes into the hamper. Her hand, out of habit, fell to her lower back and she smiled at her 'slip up' before looking at a sleepy Lucy in her carrier. "Mommy kinda misses not having you depending on her. It was me and you for a long time, kiddo."
Lucy let out a fussy cry and kicked her feet, as Lindsay grabbed the comforter and aired it out, and letting it fall to the bed, so the bed was effectively made. She folded the corner down and drew the curtains before switching the lamp on, despite it being twelve in the afternoon.
She moved through the bedroom to shut the bedroom door and then headed towards Lucy's carrier before crouching down and smiling at her daughter as she picked her up out of the carrier and cajoled her as she made her way to the bed.
"I think it's time for Lucy and mommy's favourite time of the day…" Lindsay smiled as she lay down with Lucy tucked into her side. "Lunchtime for Lucy and naptime for mommy."
Meanwhile, in the hallway Danny Messer thrust his key into the door and glanced at his watch as he physically kicked himself at the silent apartment.
Nappytime and lunchtime for his girls.
He threw his bag down in a huff and shut the door quietly before kicking his converse off with a little more force than was probably required. He padded through the apartment in his socked feet and headed straight to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich.
He opened the fridge and sighed as he shut it again. Deciding that he wasn't really that hungry. He had wanted to get home in time to spend an hour with Lindsay and Lucy before he had to go back to work.
God love a happy Mac Taylor in a goddaddy role.
He craned his neck into the living room at the wide array of what appeared to be photo albums sprawled across the floor. Danny decided to investigate and made his way over to the mess that littered their living room.
He sat in the exact spot against the couch wherein Lindsay had sat not fifteen minutes previous as he grabbed the closest photo album and opened it at the first page and smiled to himself as he traced baby Lindsay's face with his index finger. His heart melted at the sight before him as he stared at the picture, trying to take everything in.
"She's playing Cinderella." Danny sighed as he took in the picture of his wife dressing up in a princess dress at the age of three. Danny stretched his legs out in front of him as he gazed at a toothy Lindsay with her beautiful, twinkling brown eyes and gorgeous ringlet curly hair. She was in her mother's red heels to accompany her blue dress – with Danny knowing himself that she in no way matched – but it didn't make a difference to three-year-old Lindsay with her feet disappearing into her mother's size six shoes.
He laughed softly and turned the page to the next image of baby Lindsay growing up. The next image displayed Lindsay balancing on a pink tricycle, barely four-years-old. Training wheels and everything. He laughed at the frilly accessories and the pom poms that decorated the bike's handlebars. It was so against anything he'd ever seen in Lindsay. Pink and frilly. Yet, as he gazed down at his wife, looking for her features he saw in her now, back when she was just a baby, he smiled, and shook his head, realising that baby Lindsay would be just like Lucy. Frilly, pink, giggly and beautiful.
He flicked the page over and gazed at Lindsay's mother and Lindsay asleep on her window seat with Goodnight Moon in their lap. He smiled as he imagined Lindsay and Lucy doing the exact same thing in his own daughter's room with him and Lucy's brothers running to get the camera and taking a picture of Mommy and Luce.
He turned the page again and smiled at the image of Lindsay on a horse, but quickly skipped it. She knew his thoughts on horses. Unless it meant he would see Lindsay or Lucy at the end of a plane ride, his feet stayed firmly on the New York sidewalks.
Period.
He flipped the page and saw Lindsay and her friends in bathing suits with toothy smiles, numerous teeth from all of the girls' mouths missing. He laughed as he traced Lindsay's happy face and flipped the page, knowing it was painful for her – still, so many years later dealing with the loss of her friends, therefore it made it hard for him.
He sat back and closed his eyes as he imagined Lucy in Lindsay's position. He hadn't actually thought about that. What he would do and feel if it was his baby girl in the diner – terrified for her friend's lives – not to mention her own. He could feel the bile rise in his throat at the thought of hearing Lucy's hysterical cries down the end of the line, screaming the same words Lindsay had to her dad that had answered after she had called the police.
He opened his eyes and gazed down at the page after the one with Lindsay and her friends, trying to get rid of the image of his daughter in such a position that he never, ever, wanted her to be in.
Lindsay's first day of school - banning previous images from his mind, he smiled as took in sight of her attractive outfit. He shook his head at her polka dot leggings, accompanied by a white t-shirt with a bright daisy with a smiley face decorating the shirt with white tennis shoes and white socks to complete the fantastic outfit.
Oh she would never live that bad boy down.
He turned the page and glared at the next image.
What was this teenage boy doing with Lindsay? He grumbled as he flicked the page angrily at the mere idea of Lindsay going anywhere with anyone but him.
He was now getting to teenage Lindsay and smiled as she took in her features. Even as an 'awkward' teenager as she called herself, she was beautiful. Her chocolate brown ringlet hair she had as a baby had been replaced with a darker brown and straight long locks.
He smiled at the thought of Lindsay rebelling and dying her hair with her friends, thinking she was the coolest thing in the world.
Which she probably was, Danny thought to himself as he flicked through the various pages of her in her teen years. Candid shots at camp with heads cut off from Lindsay's less than impeccable photography skills back in the day, birthdays, recitals, science fairs, swim meets. Everything was in this photo album. This photo album was everything that made Lindsay who she was.
And he was now wondering why he was only just seeing this now.
He got to the last page and fought a tear as it finally registered as to why Lindsay had gotten out her photo album.
After the team had left the hospital after they had met his and Lindsay's baby daughter, Sid had come on his own with his wife bringing a homemade 'welcome to the world, baby girl Messer' cake decorated with pink icing. Sid had also brought his camera and demanded that Danny, Lindsay and Lucy got together for their first family portrait.
And, the image that was staring up at him was the result of that picture perfect moment.
They had both cast their eyes down to Lucy, who at the time was going back and forth between Lucy and Lydia, as she let out a gurgle. Sid had captured them both with heart-warming smiles on their faces as they stared down at the life they had created with their hands intertwined as Lindsay held their child.
Danny wiped a tear from his eye as he flicked through Lindsay's life seeing where she had come from, and where she had ended up. Every single moment shaping the person she was, and now, the mommy that she was.
He looked at the very first picture taken of Lindsay, and he flipped to the back and looked at the very first picture of Lindsay's daughter and took a deep breath.
The bedroom door opening shocked him and a tear released from his eye and he turned and peered over the couch. "Hey sweetheart." He greeted her.
"Hey." She yawned, sleepily. "What are you doing home?"
"I came home to see my girls, but it was lunchtime and nappytime. Where's Luce?"
"Asleep in the bassinet in there. I didn't want to carry her far. It took me a while to get her to go to sleep."
Danny nodded as she sat on the floor next to him and leant her head on his shoulder. "What you doin'?" she asked.
"Looking at my baby girl."
She smiled and rubbed his arm affectionately. "Did I see a tear fall down one's cheek, Daniel?"
He shrugged her off of him and clearing her throat. He turned to look at her in protest and sighed as he rested his head against hers. "You got me. Looking at baby Lindsay reduced me to tears."
"Good tears, I hope." She laughed.
Danny nodded as he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear before pressing a kiss to her cheek. "I just wish I was there back then. As stupid as that sounds, I hate that I've missed all this in your life."
Lindsay laughed. "You're here for the rest of my life."
Danny shrugged and kissed her softly. "I should set off back to work. Mac only let me come home for lunch."
"Oh Dan, I'm sorry. It's like you wasted your time going back and forth." She sighed as she sat up away from him. "You came home to see us and we were sleeping."
Danny smiled as he shook his head slowly. "Nah, its fine, babe. I found something more productive to do."
"More productive than spending time with me and Luce?"
Danny nodded as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You couldn't do me a favour could you?" he asked.
She shrugged. "Depends. I'm not having sex or any more kids or…"
"Greek god of Virility, remember? It's inevitable, Lindsay – I'm sorry."
She rolled her eyes.
"Make me a sandwich for the road, wife, please?"
Lindsay rolled her eyes again at his demands and sighed heavily before pushing herself up off of the floor, using Danny's thigh and padded barefoot into the kitchen. "Do you want a juice box too, sweetie?"
"Please." Danny nodded as he looked down at the photo album. "Hey, Linds…"
She stepped back from where she buried her head in the fridge and looked over the breakfast bar, "Yeah?"
Danny fought the smirk. "I was thinking – for Lucy's first day of school can we send her in polka dot leggings and a daisy flowerpot t-shirt?"
She glared at him with her own smirk on his face. She reached into the fridge, grabbed a juice box and chucked it clear across the room, nailing Danny right in the forehead.
"Did you see that?!" She gasped. "Did I just slug you from all the way over here?"
"You used to be on the tag football team." He grumbled as he rubbed his head and checked the juice box didn't have any holes or punctures. "I would be ashamed if you lost your aim and fire."
She smirked at him and wiggled his eyebrows as she grabbed the chopping board and mustered up a deli sandwich for him, before slipping it into a ziplock bag and adding a packet of cheetos and an orange. She left everything on the counter and handed him the sandwich bag and leant down to kiss him as he sat on the floor. "You're gonna be late." She whispered.
He shrugged. "I don't mind."
"You should!" Lindsay giggled as he grabbed her hips and pulled her down onto his lap, so that she was facing him. "Danny!"
"Just let me say goodbye, Cinderella."
Lindsay let out a musical giggle as she pressed a kiss to his lips. "You callin' me a princess?"
"If that makes me Prince charmin'."
She pressed another kiss to his lips and nibbled on his bottom lip before edging off his lap and squirming out of his arms. "You need to go to make it back on time, baby."
"I'll call Mac. Tell him I just contracted a –lasts the rest of my shift- bug and I'll be back tomorrow. It's quickly becoming an epidemic, didn't you hear?"
"Get your butt off our floor and haul ass to work, Messer." Lindsay growled as she wiggled out of his embrace. "Go. Get out. Leave."
"Love you too." He grumbled as he picked himself up off of the floor and grabbed his lunch.
"What time will you be home?" Lindsay asked as she picked up the mess in the living room.
"I'll call ahead. Let you know if I'm gonna be late." He told her as she moved towards the door of the apartment with him.
Nodding, she pulled her shoulder length hair from her face and tied it in a ponytail as she opened the door. "Any preference for dinner?"
He smiled as he wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Whatever you want."
She rolled her eyes as she stood up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his rugged jaw. "You better hope there's no delays on the subway, cowboy."
Danny pressed a kiss to her cheek before blowing a raspberry.
"You're disgusting!" She spat as she slugged him. "Save that delinquency for our daughter. Not me!" she scoffed as she wiped her cheek.
He fought his smirk as he rubbed his arm with his lunch in his hand. "I love you."
"Get out of here." She smirked at him as she wiped her hand on his shirt. "Go save the world."
He smiled as he kissed her one last time before heading out of the open door. "I love you, Linds."
She smiled as she leaned against the door. "Love you too."
He started down the hallway and listened to the soft click of the door shut and the key being turned in the lock.
He took a deep breath as he continued down the hallway of their apartment building and pulled his wallet out of his pocket and flipped it open.
Staring up at him was a giggling Lucy sat in her carrier as she tried reaching for the camera Lindsay had taken the picture with. Sighing, Danny jabbed the 'down' button on the elevator and ran his thumb over his daughter's delicate features.
He closed the wallet after the elevator arrived on their floor and he stepped in. Sighing, Danny replaced the wallet in his pocket.
"No ones stealing my baby Cinderella." He declared to himself in the confines of the elevator. "Even if he loves her as much as I love her mother."
He knew his attempt to convince himself of such 'fact' was futile, considering Lindsay wouldn't have that for a second. But, he was quite happy lying to himself.
'Cause really, when it came to his baby girl, denial was quite a lovely place to live.
The elevator slowly closed on the hallway but before it did, he saw Lindsay and Lucy emerge from the apartment. He thrust his hand out and stopped the elevator from closing anymore and stood in the frame. "S'the matter?"
Lindsay smiled as she shut the door and headed down the hallway. "She heard your voice, woke up and was devastated when she didn't see you in the apartment when I got her up to comfort her. So we made a deal that if you were still here, we'd get a kiss and go back to sleep, didn't we Lucy-lu?"
Lucy's lip quivered as she fussed in Lindsay's arms as she approached Danny. Danny stepped out of the elevator, letting it go, as he took his baby girl and pressed soft kisses to her lips, nose and forehead. "Hey baby girl, were we having a nice nap?"
Lucy relaxed in his arms and snuggled her head against his chest as he cradled her, eliciting an "aww" from Lindsay. Lucy giggled softly as Danny prodded her nose, and proceeded to tickle her belly.
"If mommy says no, ask daddy." Danny smirked as he read Lucy's pink onesie. "Yup… sounds about right." He nodded as he glanced down at his watch. "Daddy wishes he could stay sweetie, but he has to go to work."
"And he says this as if he just had an epiphany." Lindsay scoffed. "For the last fifteen minutes I have been demanding for you to go back to work. The quicker you leave, the quicker you can come home."
"I know… I know..." Danny sighed as he handed her Lucy. "You know me… I want to spend every waking minute with you guys."
"In a perfect fairytale world." Lindsay sighed. "But seriously, you have to go. Mac is gonna have my new-mommy butt for keeping you."
Danny sighed as he pressed one last and final kiss to Lucy's delicate lips before repeating the process and placing a kiss to Lindsay's lips. "A'right… I'm gone."
"We love you." Lindsay giggled as she retreated from the elevator. "Say bye to daddy, Lucy." Lindsay smiled as she waved animatedly.
Danny smiled and chuckled softly as he hit the elevator button again, which arrived almost immediately, but instead, he turned his head over his shoulder to wave again.
"Get in that elevator!" Lindsay snapped. "Stop it. Just go."
He smirked at her as he stepped in and jabbed the lower level button, quickly disappearing from sight.
Yup, He thought to himself as he rested his head against the wall of the elevator and pulled his wallet back out of his pocket to stare at his little girl one last time. No one was ever stealing his baby Cinderella.
Ever.
I had quite a bit of fun with that one - so I hope you liked it. Reviews are much appreciated! :)