Title: I'll Lighten Your Burdens, I'll Double Your Joys
Four times Danny doesn't help Mindy with her luggage, and the one time he does.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Note: It's been a while! But I missed these two idiots and I thought I'd finally get around to proofreading this fic and posting it. It was inspired by the scene of Mindy battling with her luggage on the flight to Santa Fe last season. Yes, this fic has been sitting around since then so finally time to post! Hope you enjoy! Comments would be most welcome, please & thank you!
one
"Uh, one second, almost done."
Mindy shoves the bag up again, wobbling on her heels as she tries to close the compartment before the suitcase can fall out again. She manages to keep it in the shelf space, but doesn't manage to close the compartment lid, only slamming it again and again. She winces at the noise and smiles apologetically at the long line of people waiting in the aisle behind her.
"Sorry! Almost done!" The smile is still frozen in place as she turns to look at Danny who's comfortably settled in his seat, flipping through the SkyMall catalog. "Are you serious right now, Danny?"
"We'll be gone for four days, Mindy. Yet again, you packed too much." He shrugs and gives her a crooked smile. "Your fault, your problem."
"You are a real son of a bitch, you know that?" she whispers through clenched teeth. "A real son of a-"
"How about I help so we can get the line moving?" A flight attendant approaches Mindy with a polite smile, her suit neatly pressed and every strand of hair in place. She reaches up to efficiently close the compartment with such ease as if she does it all day long, which she does. "All done. You can take your seat now, ma'am."
"Thank you. But please don't call me ma'am," Mindy points out as she gets settled. "I specifically wrote that down when I filled out my pre-flight request sheet."
"Oh, right, I remember. Dr. Mindy Lahiri," the flight attendant recalls with a genuine smile. "We enjoyed reading your list of movie suggestions. Hope you find something you like." She waves at the people in line to continue boarding now that the aisle has been cleared.
"It only took a flight attendant ten minutes to rescue you this time," Danny comments. "Good service."
"You know, I think I'm gonna get my own room when we land in Chicago." She settles into her seat, pulling out her magazines and a case of Purell to wipe down the headphones provided to them (she's a doctor and she knows you can never be too careful about germs in public places). "You can sleep alone tonight."
"Oh, come on." Danny shakes his head in protest, but looks more amused than worried by her threat. "Don't be like that."
"Don't be like what?" she repeats innocently, raising an eyebrow at him and silently daring him to push her enough so she'll follow through.
He reaches for her hand and she's not quick enough to pull away. His fingers tangle with hers as his thumb brushes at the soft skin of her palm. She looks into his eyes, trying to keep her gaze narrowed in anger. She's sure she's failing though; it's hard to remain angry when she reads the clear fondness on his face as he looks her way.
This time, he has a threat of his own.
"If you get your own room, you won't have access to the other shoes you hid in my bag," Danny tells her, his eyes twinkling and his lips twitching in the slightest of smiles.
Mindy's eyes widen and she thinks of automatically denying it. But he's too smart for that. They've been to nearly a dozen medical conferences over the time they've worked together, and he knows exactly how she operates, and exactly how indecisive she is about her wardrobe choices. She pauses before giving in and picking the best option - the one that involves keeping all her shoes, and keeping one Danny Castellano in her bed.
"Fine. Only because I hid my Louboutins in there and I'm wearing them to the banquet tonight. Otherwise, you would have totally been sleeping alone, buddy."
Despite her words, she turns to settle more comfortably in her seat, resting her head on his chest and sighing in content at the warmth of his broad shoulder. Weird body or not, there's nothing she loves more than snuggling into him after a long day, whether it's on the couch in the doctor's lounge, his spacious king-sized bed, or the roomy first class seats of a flight to Chicago.
"Uh huh." Danny nods at her words as he wraps his arm around her and starts flipping through the in-flight movie choices, correctly navigating right to the romance category for Mindy to choose from. "Good thing I pack light."
two
"Just one more minute, sir, let me get in and push." Mindy gets back into the cab and shoves at the suitcase that's lodged firmly in place. It doesn't move. She turns to the cab driver again in apology. "Just one minute."
"Lady, I don't have all day. This is my livelihood, you know," the cabbie grumbles as he turns in his seat to glare at Mindy.
"Yeah, Min, this is his livelihood," Danny repeats, his voice rich with amusement. He stands at the curb, his overnight bag at his side and a bouquet of flowers in one hand as he casually checks messages on his phone.
"Why isn't your boyfriend helping you?" the cab driver asks in confusion. "You two in a fight or somethin'?"
"No, he is just a horrible person, and-" Mindy begins to elaborate before she's interrupted by said boyfriend.
"No, she needs to learn the importance of traveling light," Danny tells the cab driver. His Staten Island accent comes out more clearly now that they've entered the streets of his hometown. Mindy tries very hard not to be aroused by it (she's failing enormously). "She doesn't get it."
"Well, I'm so sorry for wanting to make a good impression on your mother, Danny. My bad!" Mindy takes a deep breath, then continues her tirade. "I should just walk around in sweatpants all weekend for all you care! God forbid I try and bring anything flattering."
Danny's face softens just the slightest at her comment, but he remains firm on his stance about excess luggage. "Min, we're only visiting for the weekend."
"Not just a weekend! A long weekend!"
"It's only longer by one day!"
"Exactly," Mindy says with emphasis now that he's declared the obvious. He rolls his eyes at the proud gotcha look on her face. "That one day opens up the possibility for an entire day of outfits. Formal, casual, party... there are so many options! I need to be prepared."
"Okay, lady, can you just hurry up with your fancy luggage? I promised my kids I'd be home for dinner." The cab driver comes to stand next to Danny at the curb, making sure not to topple over Mindy's other matching suitcase and over-sized purse.
"You know, if you helped, I'll toss in a twenty," Mindy says with a bright smile from inside the cab. "You can treat your kids to ice cream tonight!"
The cabbie's eyes brighten at the thought of the tip and he ignores Danny's protests to tug at the suitcase from the other end. He pulls, Mindy pushes, and together they manage to dislodge the suitcase. Mindy struggles to grab it before the fancy Coach luggage hits the sidewalk.
"Thank you!" Mindy hands over a twenty from her wallet with a bright smile. "You have a wonderful day now, sir. Enjoy dinner with your children. Family time is important."
"You shouldn't have helped her, man. You're just enabling her." Danny shakes his head in disappointment at the man's weak will. "Now some other guy is gonna have to deal with just as much luggage the next time we visit."
Mindy takes the flower bouquet from Danny and pulls an orchid out of the bunch, presenting it to the cab driver with a bright smile. "Here you go! Have an orchid. Or give it to your wife, she'll love it."
The cab driver looks from Danny to Mindy curiously, but decides not to comment on the interesting play of their relationship he's witnessed during the ride from the ferry to the house. He simply accepts the tip, and the flower, before getting into the car and driving away, muttering something under his breath about fancy New Yorkers and their strange ways.
"You ready?" Danny asks Mindy softly, taking in the way she eyes his childhood home, her eyes taking in the colorful flowers growing in the small front yard. He puts a hand at the small of her back to guide her up the front steps. "I can already see Ma peeking from the window."
"I'm so ready. Mothers love me," Mindy assures him with a bright grin. "I brought her baked goods! Plus orchids."
"Yes, you did. That was nice."
"Thanks." She smiles at him before ringing the doorbell, then turns to add over her shoulder, "But I'm totally telling her you didn't help me with my luggage."
three
"Danny! I cannot believe you. It is our honeymoon."
"Actually, the honeymoon's over, babe. I told you not to buy so much."
"It's St. Bart's! I had to splurge on gifts for everyone back home! I didn't realize there was a limit to how many presents I could buy to celebrate the momentous occasion of our marriage. Well, my marriage. You've done this once before," she says playfully, raising an eyebrow and waiting for his retort.
He simply shakes his head at her teasing as he stands from his seat. Thanks to Mindy's goodnatured ribbing over the past year, and the years before during their friendship, he's become much more mellow about the fact that he has one divorce on his relationship track record. It doesn't bother him as much anymore because now, he has Mindy. And she's made it clear the only way they're ever getting divorced is if Michael Fassbender is in a ten mile radius.
"You bought souvenirs for people who don't even give a shit that we got married."
"Mr. Robinson does too care!"
"Mr. Robinson lives three floors above me and wasn't even invited to the wedding, Min," Danny reminds her. "You just like him 'cause he complimented your outfit once."
"I appreciate a man who appreciates fashion. Which is why I still can't believe I married you."
"Ha, ha," Danny responds with a smirk. "That's cute."
"Good thing you let me take you shopping before you decided to propose, 'cause that would have been a deal breaker."
"Not funny."
"Who's joking? He could be a great potential second husband for me, you know, Mr. Robinson. He told me he has a nice nest egg saved for retirement."
"I'll let him know you're interested when we get back. Get that thing up there," he says before slipping by her to get to the bathroom.
"Handsome jerk!" Mindy whisper-yells after him, but he doesn't turn back and she's left with a monstrosity of a garment bag and not enough upper body strength to lift it. She's totally been slacking on her gym sessions with Danny the past couple of months due to all the wedding planning. She sighs and bends down to try and lift the bag again. This time, she'll use her legs, and not her back. Or is it use your back and not your legs? How the hell is she supposed to-
"Hello. Do you need help?"
Mindy turns to look up into the face of a tall, handsome stranger. She barely manages a nod, then watches as Mr. Blonde and Gorgeous easily lifts up her bag and pops it in the compartment, closing the lid with a click and giving her a glimpse of the muscles under his t-shirt flexing impressively.
"There you go. It feels like you have more than one pair of clothes in that traveling bag," he adds with a knowing smile.
Mindy smiles sheepishly at being caught. "Well, yes. I needed the room in my suitcase for gifts so I put all my clothes in here. An old trick to save luggage space that my dad taught me." She shakes her head to get off the topic of all the embarrassing Indian tricks her parents had passed down to her. "Anyway, thank you! You know, not everyone is as polite these days. I counted five perfectly able-bodied men who walked on by without so much as a second glance." Mindy glares at one of those men who's sitting two rows behind them. She scoffs loudly when he ignores her and only buries his head further into his book. "So, thank you, Mr. Good Samaritan."
The man laughs, dimples flashing and white teeth gleaming as he leans casually against the overhead compartment. He's good looking enough to pull it off, making it look like he's the official poster boy of advertising for the airline. Tan, blonde, muscled... yeah, she'd be flying to St. Bart's again. "I don't know about that, but you're welcome. It was a chance to see if my gym membership is paying off or not."
"Oh, it definitely is," Mindy says helpfully. "I urge you to continue whatever regiment you're on because-"
"What's going on here?"
Mindy turns to find Danny at her shoulder, having come back from the bathroom to find their seats blocked, not by Mindy and her carry-on bag anymore, but Mindy and a handsome island native, complete with a foreign accent and all.
Danny knows accents are one of Mindy's weaknesses. He's heard her gush over Matthew Goode and Sark from Alias enough times, and there's every Christmas when she re-watches Love Actually (that's not counting all the other times it's watched throughout the year). Plus, that whole phase when she was with Jeremy. But he tries not to think about that more than necessary.
"Danny, this is the kind stranger who helped me put my luggage up. Isn't he a wonderful person?"
"Yeah, a real saint in St. Bart's. Hey, you might want to get to your seat, pal, the seatbelt sign just came on." Danny gestures over his shoulder adamantly as if the captain's going to close in on them any moment now for standing around chatting.
The man nods, the universal message of she's with me received. "Well, you have a good flight, ma'am," he tells Mindy with a smile as he passes by her. "Don't hurt yourself getting that bag down."
"Oh, don't worry," Mindy assures him with a wave of her hand. "I'm fine with getting it down. I just knock it around and let it fall to the ground while taking cover." She gives him one last smile before she slips into her seat next to Danny and fastens her seatbelt. "What a nice guy. You know, the men on this island are very attentive to women. I'm going to miss that when we get home."
"Hey, I attended to you for two whole weeks." He smirks suggestively and there's no mistaking exactly what kind of attending he's referring to.
Mindy giggles and fights back a blush, smiling as Danny reaches to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. "Danny! That's not what I meant! But, yes, yes, you did."
"See, Staten guys aren't so bad either."
four
"Great work finding a substitute nurse for the rest of the week, Morgan. I think Charlie is gonna fit right in," Mindy says over her shoulder as she searches for their seat numbers.
"Thanks, Dr. L."
"Where'd you find him anyway?"
"Back in Otisville, Charlie and I were on bedpan duty-"
"Oh, god." Mindy stops in her tracks, shock and horror clear on her face. "I have to tell Jeremy right now."
"Just kidding!" Morgan doubles over in laughter while Mindy stares at him blankly. "I used the hospital's substitute nurse program that Betsy gave me the number to. Don't worry! Charlie's never done time."
"Oh, thank god." Mindy lets out a sigh of relief as she stops in front of their seats. "Well, I'm glad because I know Rishi really wanted you to come to his graduation. California, man. Californiaaaa," she sings.
Morgan snaps his fingers and points at her. "The OC!" Mindy grins at his right answer. "I'm so excited. I couldn't believe it when Rishi called, I thought it was the kids next door prank calling my Grams again."
"Is that why you yelled at him over the phone and threatened to have Otisville's version of T-Bag kick his ass? That was a bit harsh."
"Hey, I apologized!" Morgan reminds her. "I got him a great gift to make up for it. You wanna know-"
"No, no, let's leave it a surprise, Morgan." Mindy puts her purse down on her seat and looks around for her husband. "Is Danny back yet?"
"No. He wasn't getting reception in the shuttle so he said he'd take the next one." Morgan pauses suddenly, his eyes widening in clear panic. "Wait, are you in labor? Oh god, should I tell the pilot? Do we have to make an emergency landing?" He looks around anxiously as if searching for a flight attendant. "Everyone, calm down, I'm a registered nurse! I can deliver this baby!"
"Morgan," Mindy hisses so he'll stop talking, "I'm only in my first trimester, of course I'm not in labor. And we haven't even taken off yet." Mindy gestures to the window where it's obvious from the view of the tarmac that they're safely on the ground. "Just put my bag up, please."
"Oh, okay. Gotcha." Morgan puts up his and Mindy's luggage in the overhead compartment before settling into the window seat. "I call the window seat!"
"I think that's Danny's," Mindy says, but takes the seat next to him with a shrug. "Oh, what the hell, you snooze, you lose. Hey, you wanna watch last night's-"
"Absolutely," Morgan answers immediately as he sees Mindy pull up the video on her iPad. "Grams asked for a foot massage so I missed the episode. Her yeast infection really has her grouchy."
"Okay, Morgan, TMI."
"He took my seat," Danny remarks, standing in the aisle and glaring at Morgan when he joins them ten minutes later. He turns to Mindy and his eyes widen in horror. "Please tell me you didn't lift your elephant of a carry-on bag while you're pregnant, Min."
"Of course not, you idiot, I had Morgan do it for me." Mindy points at the nurse who grins proudly and gives Danny a double thumbs up. "And now, as a reward for performing said husbandly duty, he gets to sit next to me."
"Sorry," Danny apologizes with a wince. "The hospital called 'cause Mrs. Garner came in thinking she was in labor again and-"
"No worries, I was just teasing," Mindy tells him, touching his hand gently in reassurance. "But he's still sitting next to me."
Danny groans. "Come on, that's not fair. I was supposed to get the window seat."
"Fine, you can switch. But we were going to watch Game of Thrones."
Both Mindy and Morgan remain quiet as they watch Danny fall silent at the name of that one particular show. They fight to keep the amusement off their faces as Danny nods repeatedly and shrugs, his eyes darting down to the iPad in Mindy's lap.
"Oh, okay, that's cool. I brought this morning's paper to finish reading anyway so..." He points at Morgan's seat across the aisle while his eyes dart to the iPad screen nervously.
"Hey." Mindy reaches to grab his tie, pulling on it so he's leaning over her. She hides her smile as not to offend him, but he catches the glimmer of laughter in her gaze. Before he can say anything, she gives him a quick kiss. "You can switch spots with him at the layover in two hours, promise."
Danny smiles and drops a kiss on her forehead. He takes a step toward his seat but not before letting his hand brush over the small baby bump visible beneath her sweater.
"Oh, Dr. L. Interesting fact time: Charlie has not done time, but he had a cousin named Marvin who has a friend who has a brother who I knew in Otisville. Talk about a reunion, am I right?"
"Okay, Morgan. TV time."
"We're gonna meet for ice cream next week. What a coincidence, am I right?"
"Shhh. Queen Cersei's talking."
five
"Your mommy's crazy, isn't she, Izzy? Watch her madness at work."
"Do not talk to my daughter about me like that, thank you very much," Mindy manages to say while unloading her second suitcase from the van for their week at the beach. She tries to look formidable as she stares at Danny, but the sight he makes holding their two-year-old daughter in his arms is too much. Plus, she's wearing the cutest sundress with frills and polka dots. The stern expression on Mindy's face vanishes and her heart melts immediately. "Don't listen to him, Izzy, I can do it on my own. Girls run the world."
"Don't start singing," Danny warns her.
"I can't sing for you right now anyway, Danny, not when I have work to do." Mindy tugs at her second bag from the van, huffing in annoyance when it budges only an inch. "Danny, help!"
"Nope." Danny shakes his head as he rocks Isabelle in his arms, smiling as she giggles at the sensation of being lifted side to side in the safety of her father's arms.
"You won't help unload your own daughter's bags, Danny, is that the kind of father you want to be?" The father card usually works so Mindy tries it immediately after the whining doesn't.
"Don't even pull that on me, Min. I already unloaded the bag you packed for Izzy. Why a one-year-old needs so many clothes for a week at the beach is beyond me..."
"Because I went a little crazy buying her summer wardrobe," Mindy admits unapologetically. "They had the cutest sundresses on sale last week and I couldn't resist!"
"That explains it. I already unloaded her bag. The rest are yours." Danny gestures with his free hand toward her bright patterned luggage in contrast to his own dark duffel bag. "Come on, Min, we still have to find a place to eat dinner. The beach house doesn't come with groceries."
"You are the worst, you know that?" Mindy scowls at him under the bright sunshine, and Danny knows her eyes are narrowed at him behind her oversized sunglasses. Her hands are on her lips as she glares at him in the bright August sunshine.
"You weren't saying that an hour ago when you were thanking me for whisking you away on a romantic beach getaway," Danny teases with a smile. "In fact, your hands were saying a whole different story."
"Well, you can forget about that story for now, Caste-lame-o," Mindy tells him with another scowl as she returns to the impossible task of shoving at her luggage. Maybe his response was just the emotional ammunition she needed because the bag flies out of the trunk on the final push. Mindy cheers at her success. "Yes!" She rushes to her husband and grabs for Izzy, ignoring his protests as they both fight for possession of the toddler at the same time.
"No fair, Mindy! I had her!"
"It is fair. You said I had to unload my bags and you'd wheel them in. Mission accomplished." Mindy smiles with pride when Izzy leans toward her, her arms outstretched for her mother. Danny grumbles and has no choice but to hand her over. "Don't take too long, honey, we need to eat dinner soon. I'm starving. Aren't you starving, Izzy?"
"Beach!"
"Yes, the beach, we're at the beach, Izzy," Mindy repeats with a smile as they turn to gaze at the ocean view. She turns to Danny and grabs his compact travel bag to roll up the path behind her and says, "Look, I'm even helping. I'll get your stuff. One down-"
"A million to go," Danny mutters as he eyes Mindy's two suitcases, Izzy's one, and an assortment of bags holding food, toys, and beach supplies.
"Don't be so dramatic, Danny. Hurry, we don't wanna spend our first beach day standing on the front porch, do we?"
"Beach! Beach!"
"See, Izzy wants to go to the beach."
one
"Hey, Min? Mindy? You awake? You want me to make you some pancakes?" Danny pushes gently at Mindy's shoulder, waiting for a response even though he's pretty sure he knows what the answer is going to be. It's been then same for a week now, but he has to try.
"No."
Danny sighs, but forges on. "Are you sure? We have chocolate chips. You love chocolate chips in your breakfast food."
"I said no, Danny! Leave me alone. I'm trying to sleep," she says. She moves to pull the covers over head again. Danny beats her to it and pulls them back, and they're engaged in a tug-of-war for a good minute. "Hey, give that back!"
"No! Mindy, you have to get outta bed." The order comes out sharper than he intends, but it works to get her attention. He lowers his voice and his tone becomes gentle as he takes a seat next to her, his hands caressing her face. "Hey, look, I'm sorry about your grandmother, okay, I am. My nana died when I was in med school, and I got so drunk that I flunked my nephrology exam. But you can't hide under the covers forever."
"I'm not hiding," she argues sullenly. "I'm grieving, you asshole."
And because she's grieving, Danny ignores the language.
"I know you are, but we miss you. You're seeing like two patients a day-"
"Oh, this is about work? Are you saying I'm not pulling my weight in the practice, because I-"
"No, it's not about work," Danny snaps, and she becomes silent once more. "It's about how we miss you at work and at home. This is worse than when they cancelled The Bachelorette. The kids are worried you're sick or something."
Mindy's bottom lip wobbles as tears flood her eyes. "They are?"
"They miss their mom," he says softly. "Morgan took them to the park, so why don't you take a shower and come downstairs for some breakfast and- shit." He stops talking abruptly as Mindy bursts into tears and drops her head on his shoulder, her sobs muffled as she burrows her head deeper into the fabric of his shirt. "Okay, it's okay, just get it all out." He pats her awkwardly on the back, but his hand lingers as he strokes her hair. He still hasn't gotten the hang of dealing with crying women, even after nearly six years of marriage and two daughters. But he's gotten a lot better at dealing with a crying Mindy than before, that's for sure.
"I am a horrible person!" Mindy wails. Danny puzzles his face in confusion, but hardly has time to form a question before Mindy starts talking again. "I hadn't called her since Diwali, Danny! That was four months ago. I am a horrible granddaughter! And she sent me and the girls those beautiful bangles from India when my mom visited last month. I am such a bitch!"
"Hey, Min, that's not-"
"I deserve to have granddaughters who are bitches to me in return, and who never call and never write and don't care, and I'll die all alone and-"
"Hey, hey, calm down." Danny rubs his hands over her shoulders, cutting her off in her speech so she has no choice but to take a deep breath, inhale and exhale. "You're not a bitch, okay? You just got busy."
"That's not an excuse! What if our kids get too busy for us?" Mindy questions, shaking her head at the horror of the hypothetical question.
Danny smiles wryly. "You'd never let that happen, I know it. You'll hunt them down and make them go shopping with you."
"Danny, that's not-"
"That's a good thing," he says quickly. "And it's okay, alright? You didn't have to call all the time, everyone knows how much you loved her. Didn't your Uncle Raj say she loved the Hindi version of You've Got Mail you sent her? You gave her a gift. Tom and Meg would be proud."
After being with Mindy for this long and the endless references and re-watches he's survived, Danny was granted the right to call the onscreen duo by their first names.
"Oh, shut up," Mindy says, rolling her eyes a little and scoffing at how thick he was laying it on. But he was trying to help her feel better in his own Danny Castellano way. After all these years, he knew just how to lighten her mood and make her smile.
Danny smiles at her loosening up, the tension dissipating from her shoulders and her eyes brightening with a glimmer of amusement. He knows she's snapped out of it when she looks down at her clothes and makes a face. "Oh, gross! I've been wearing these pajamas for like, three nights in a row. I reek!"
"Yeah, you do. I almost slept on the couch."
"Danny!"
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," Danny assures her with a small laugh. He kneels down to look into her eyes, his voice low as he examines her face like she's a patient. But she's not - she's simply the love of his life. "Is that what's been bothering you all week?" Mindy's stubborn shrug answers the question. "Min, you've got to tell me this stuff. I can't read your mind."
"That's the truth," Mindy mutters. Danny ignores her and keeps talking.
"We're in this together," Danny tells her. "We took vows, remember? I carry your baggage, you carry mine."
The smile starts at the corner of Mindy's mouth even as she bites her lower lip to try and contain it, attempting to nod in seriousness at his sweet sentiment. But her eyes glimmer with merriment as she catches Danny's gaze. "What was that last part? Can you repeat that, please?"
"I carry your baggage, you carry mine," Danny repeats dutifully.
That's all it takes for Mindy to start giggling. The sound makes Danny smile fondly even before he knows what she's laughing about. But it's a sound he hasn't heard in days so he listens to it for a few seconds, then begins his questioning.
"What? What'd I say?"
"Nothing, nothing," she says in between laughs.
"C'mon, you never pass up a chance to make fun of me. I'm used to it by now. What is it?"
"Not making fun of you, per say," she explains with a laugh. "Just..." He nods for her to continue so she does. "You said you help me with my baggage, but you don't. You never help me with my bags."
Danny smiles in spite of her accusation; after three long days with the absence of Mindy's banter, he'll even engage in a conversation about her excessive packing habits at this point.
"I mean figurative baggage," he says, flashing her a crooked smile as she opens her mouth to argue. "Definitely not the literal kind when it comes to you."
"Oh, of course," Mindy teases with the shake of her head. "So when we go to Florida this summer, I shouldn't expect any help with my bags at all, is that correct?"
"That is correct." He ducks as she reaches out to slap him on the chest, capturing her wrist easily and chuckling when she tries to wrestle her arm away. "The only thing I'm helping you with right now is getting into the shower. Come on, up you go."
Mindy sighs but dutifully follows his instructions and allows him to lead her to the bathroom. "Augh, I feel like the walking dead. You know from the zombies on The Walking Dead."
"Yeah, I got that part, babe," Danny says. "You'll be fine once we get some food in you. Hurry up, the girls will be back soon."
"You come with me." Mindy smiles at him brightly, wrapping her arms around him just before she steps under the hot weather.
With slippery hands and sloppy kisses in the shower, Danny helps Mindy return to the land of the living.
the end ~