AN: I love salad. Just thought I should say that before you read this.

"Lily!" Amy walked inside the kitchen; arms crossed at the sight of her daughter sprawled upon the countertop, snacking on a glob of peanut butter she'd gotten from the jar sitting next to her. For a moment, Amy saw an expression on Lily's face that reminded her exactly of Kai. All she was missing was the glasses and lab coat.

"What?" Lily moaned and dug her spoon deeper into the jar. A large scoop of peanut butter sat on her tongue. "I'm eating lunch."

Amy frowned and placed the laundry basket she was holding onto the floor. "Eat something healthier, Lily." She walked to the fruit bowl and yanked out an apple, looking hard into her daughter's soft, cocoa-colored eyes. "Like this."

"Mo-om," Lily frowned and made a face. "I don't like fruit. Can you make me pizza or something instead?"

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Amy opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a few celery stalks, Roma tomatoes, and a head of lettuce. She heard Lily make a gagging sound from a few paces away as she washed the vegetables and began to chop them.

"What are you doing?" Lily moaned and jumped up from the counter to get a better look at the dish her mother was preparing.

"I'm making you a salad," Amy motioned to the vegetables on her cutting board. "Both you and your father have been developing bad eating habits lately."

Lily frowned and began to race out of the kitchen. "Gross! I'm not eating that."

Her mother simply groaned. "Sure you will. But in the meantime, don't you have homework you should be doing? Dr. Howard assigned an algebra packet this weekend; he sent an email out to all the parents saying so."

Lily stopped in her tracks. "Um, well…maybe…"

Placing the lettuce in a salad bowl, Amy looked back at her daughter. "Something tells me you haven't even started it yet, Lil."

"Well," Lily began to explain. "I asked Daddy if I could hang out with Kayla today, and he said I could. And Daddy's one whole year older than you, so he's the boss."

Amy couldn't help but let out a laugh as Lily began to put on her sandals. "Kai? The boss?" she shook her head. "I don't ever see that happening…"

Lily wore a pleading look on her face. "Can I pleeeease go to Kayla's? Just for an hour? I promise I'll be back to do my math homework…and I'll do extra chores for a week!" she begged.

Amy raised an eyebrow. "Where have I heard that one before?"

"Please?"

Lily's mom let out a sigh. "Kayla Bartaugh?"

"Yes!" her daughter pleaded. "Your co-worker's girl…you like her, right? Kayla's a good influence…plus she lives downstairs…"

Amy couldn't help but smile. "And is she in your math class?"

"Well…" Lily stammered. "Yeah, but…"

"Then it's settled." Amy walked over to her daughter's backpack and pulled out a manila folder that held a few sheets printed with numbers and variables. "You'll go and finish your packet with Kayla. Then you can come home for dinner."

Lily frowned and tried to protest. "But, Mom…"

"No 'buts', Lil. Dr. Howard's giving you a chance to raise your math grade from a C to a B…you should take advantage of that opportunity!" Amy placed the folder in Lily's hand. "Come back home when that's completed."

Lily frowned and stood up. "Fine."

Amy ruffled her daughter's hair and gently squeezed her cheek. "That's my girl. If you make an A in Dr. Howard's class next semester, I'll take you to the SFPD for a day."

Lily's eyes widened. "Really?" She'd always wanted to see where her parents worked and meet their colleagues.

"Sure," Amy watched Lily slide into her sandals and get up. "Captain Yeong knows how much I try to boost your grades. It's for your own good, sweetie. You'll go places someday with fresh knowledge."

"Thanks, Mom!" Lily threw her arms around Amy's waist into a tight hug. A moment later, she pulled away and took her packet with her as she exited the apartment. "Bye!"

Amy went back to the kitchen and finished placing all of the vegetables neatly into the bowl. Just as she began serving herself, Kai walked in the door after working his shift.

"Hey, Ames! Where are you?" he dropped his lab coat onto the couch.

"In the kitchen!" Amy made her way to the wine rack and poured herself a glass of chardonnay just as her husband strolled in. He opened the freezer and began to rummage through the frozen food selections.

"Hey…" Amy began and stepped behind him, still holding her wineglass. "Where's my hello?"

Kai paused and pulled out a mini frozen pizza, his face showing an expression of sorrow. "Heh… sorry. It's just that Captain sent me out everywhere today to look into the murder of some bargirl. The scene was really gross…and I felt a little fatigued from low blood sugar…so I just figured I should eat something…"

Amy shook her head. "Kai."

"Sorry," Kai mouthed and gently placed his arms around his wife's waist, still carefully holding the frozen pizza. He softly kissed Amy's lips and played with a few loose strands of her loose ebony hair, but his goofy smile turned into a frown as soon as he noticed the salad resting on the table behind her. "What is that?" he nervously groaned.

"I made you a salad," Amy wore a smirk. "It was originally going to be for Lily as well, but she went over Kayla Bartaugh's house to finish her math packet. So there's more for you."

Kai wrinkled his nose. "Gross! I hate salad. I'm not eating that."

Amy shot him a glare.

"Um…I mean…" he stammered. "Thanks a lot, sweetie, but I'm not in the mood for vegetables today."

His wife walked back over to where her lunch was set and took a sip of her chardonnay. "You know, Lily said the exact same thing to me earlier. You two have your brains connected; I swear."

Kai tore the wrapper off of the frozen pizza and stuffed it into the microwave. "Really?"

Amy couldn't help but giggle as she watched Kai press the numbers to start heating his food. He didn't know the first thing about household appliances. "Really and truly. She even looks like you, except for that tattoo on your neck and the fact that she's beautiful."

"Hey!" Kai waited in front of the microwave as his pizza made strange sizzling noises. "I'm beautiful too, aren't I?"

Nearly choking on her drink, Amy frantically tried to swallow as she struggled to fight back a laugh. "Well…" she began.

"I'm handsome, at least. Right?" Kai eyeballed the microwave and caught a glance at his wife, who was grinning.

"Sure, Kai."

"Well, you did marry me, after all!" he frowned.

Amy smiled and took another sip of chardonnay. "I'm just joking, Kai. But, seriously…Lily is a very pretty teenager."

"She isn't a teen yet," Kai reminded her. "She's only twelve."

"Well, you know what I mean," Amy playfully rolled her eyes. "She acts just like a teenager…and like you, Kai."

The microwave began making more odd noises. Kai whirled around and quickly pressed the stop button just as he flung the door open, revealing a burned cardboard dish and a nearly melted pizza.

Amy stood behind him, grinning the entire time as she watched him make a sad attempt to set it down on the table to eat. "Hey, tell me how that tastes, ok?" she taunted.

Kai ignored her and placed a bit of gooey dough and soggy pepperoni on his tongue. A moment later, he rushed to the sink and spit out the goop he had tried to ingest as Amy let a smile spread across her lips.

"And that's why you don't microwave a frozen pizza," she laughed.

Kai wistfully dumped the so-called pizza into the trashcan and sighed, looking over at Amy's full plate of salad. "Do you mind sharing that?" he sighed. "All that's left in the fridge is a bunch of expired egg rolls and leftovers from yesterday night…but I'm not going to take a chance with the egg rolls and frankly, I'm too scared to use the microwave to nuke the leftovers." He jerked his thumb toward the household appliance, which was still uttering strange hissing noises.

Amy poked at a piece of lettuce with her fork. "Well…"

The pleading look on Kai's face made her smile. She gently patted the chair next to her as Kai slid in the seat. He eyed the vegetable array on her plate and let out a tiny groan that only he could hear.

"Well, here you go, sweetie," Amy slid her salad in front of Kai. She caught a glance at the dejected look on his face and smiled. "Kai, for the love of God, you're a forensic specialist. Why don't you go investigate and do some observing on the food to see that the vegetables are harmless. Just eat it."

Kai sighed and let a piece of lettuce dangle from his fork. "I swear, if Lily would have finished this stuff earlier, I could have gone out and gotten some fast food."

Amy frowned, but her lips softened to a smile. "Well, what do you expect, Kai? Lily's a Daddy's Girl. She doesn't eat salad."

He didn't say anything; just nervously watched a bit of tomato seeds ooze onto the celery.

Amy crossed her arms. "Well, you know what they say. Like father like daughter."

She watched as Kai poked at the Roma tomato, half-expecting him to jump back and scream. But he didn't.

"Well," Amy mumbled as he continued to wrestle with the salad. "Maybe they don't always say that, but…"

She glanced at her husband's sad eyes as the facial expression that Lily had made earlier flashed through her brain. They were a perfect match.

"…I think it's pretty darn true in my case."

AN: Since I'm starting to become pretty devoted to this story, I think that Mal and Natara will make in appearance in the next chapter with their kids. How's about you review so I can update faster? Happy holidays!