Daughter
Chapter 1: Right and Wrong Moments
A/N: Every time I take a break from fan fiction and then return I always forget how stressful waiting for reviews is. Anyway, sorry if this chapter sucks. I have an idea where I want it to go but getting there is... not easy...
"A daughter?" Kate questioned when Daniel called her immediately after he got off the phone with the Detective Inspector.
"Colleen," Daniel, still reeling from the news himself, responded as if in a daze "She's five months old so the timeline fits for when Miranda and I were together..." he scrubbed his free hand across his face and inhaled deeply "I'm gonna fly to Paris tomorrow and get her. I guess I'm gonna have to cancel our date."
Daniel could hear typing over the phone "You can take me to dinner in Paris," Kate replied, the smile evident in her voice.
Daniel was momentarily confused "Huh?" the utterance escaped him at the exact moment his brain put two and two together.
"I've got some vacation time that I either take or lose," Kate explained "And I just booked tickets, round trip for us and one way for Coleen."
"Kate I can't let you-" Daniel began to object.
"Daniel," Kate interjected "You don't have to do this alone. I know how much Miranda meant to you," Daniel almost swore he detected a note of sadness in Kate's voice "Besides," her tone lightened considerably "The tickets are booked. It's a done deed. I'll pick you up in," there was a pause as she checked the time "Jeez," she murmured "Three hours."
"See you then," Daniel was making his way towards his closet to begin packing "Thank you Kate," he said earnestly "I love you."
"I love you too," Kate replied "I'll see you soon."
Max was barely awake when Kate arrived later that morning and he had trouble processing the information that Daniel was spouting at him. "Hold on, hold on!" Max pleaded, raising one of his hands in the air while attempting to slice a grapefruit, causing the large citrus to roll onto the floor, landing heavily on Max's left baby toe "You have a daughter?"
"Yes," Daniel replied, trying not to get too irritated with the young man.
"With Miranda?"
"Yes Lewicki," despite his best efforts the aggravation was showing through.
"And she never told you she was pregnant?"
"Obviousl not," Daniel replied, the snarkiness blatantly obvious in his tone.
Max backed off, realizing that he had stretched the good doctor's very finite patience to its limits.
Kate, who was sitting at the kitchen table sipping from the styrofoam cup of coffee she had purchased on her way over, piped up "So we'll both be gone for a while depending on how long it takes for Colleen's passport to go through."
"So you'll be taking over my classes for the foreseeable future," Daniel explained.
Max slumped into a chair, slid the plate of grapefruit across to Daniel and took a long grateful swig of the coffee Kate had brought for him. He sighed as he stared at the tabletop "Alright," he said resignedly.
Kate nudged Daniel with her elbow. Interpreting the meaning behind her gesture he smiled reassuringly at his assistant "You'll be fine. You know the material and the assignments and testing schedule. You already know the students' names better than I ever will."
"Thanks Doc," Max smiled gratefully at both Daniel and Kate.
After a rushed breakfast Max went back upstairs to catch some more sleep, it was Saturday after all. And Kate excused herself to use the bathroom before they left. Daniel sat alone in the kitchen, going over in his head the list of items he had packed, trying to determine if he had forgotten anything.
"Don't forget your passport," Daniel looked up and groaned.
Standing in his kitchen was a hallucinated version of the phony Agent Drexler from his last trip to Paris "Why are you here?" he inquired.
"Just stopped by to congratulate you," the hallucination sat in the chair Kate had vacated moments before. He withdrew two cigars and a lighter from his coat pocket "Word is you're a daddy now," he offered one of the cigars to Daniel.
Daniel waved the cigar off and sighed heavily as his hallucination lit one of the cigars and began smoking it "Come on, don't do that?" the hallucination had expanded beyond visual and auditory to incorporate Daniel's olfactory senses as well.
"Lighten up," Drexler or whatever his name was grinned "it's not like it's a fire hazard."
Daniel was about to reply when Kate returned from the bathroom "We should get going Daniel," she grabbed her carry on bag off the floor as she spoke.
Daniel stood up and retrieved his bags, choosing to ignore the Drexler hallucination for the time being even though the smell of the cigar smoke was starting to make him nauseous.
"Everything alright Daniel?" Kate inquired as the pair headed for the door.
As they exited the house Daniel was relieved to see that his hallucination had departed. He turned to Kate as he hefted his bags into the trunk of her car "As alright as it can be considering a little over four hours ago I learned I have a child."
His tone was biting and sarcastic. Kate sighed and turned away as she slammed the trunk closed "Yeah, stupid question."
"Hey," Daniel reached out and gently drew her into his arms "Sorry."
She turned in his arms to face him "I know how much Miranda meant to you," her eyes didn't meet his as she attempted to pull away.
Daniel placed a hand beneath her chin and leaned in. He kissed her with both passion and tenderness. Kate melted into the kiss instantaneously. When they broke apart Daniel smiled assuringly "Don't ever feel I love you any less because I apparently had a kid with Miranda. Yes she meant a great deal to me and it hurts to know that she's gone but that doesn't change how I feel about you Kate."
"We better get going," Kate pulled away without another word on the subject.
Daniel got into the car and groaned when he caught sight of his hallucination from the kitchen lounging comfortably in the backseat. As Kate buckled her belt and turned the key in the ignition Drexler, or whatever his name really was, leaned forward. Daniel was glad that his tormentor de jour had seemed to have lost the cigar.
"Heading back to Paris," Drexler mused "Remember how badly the police there wanted to get rid of you last time? Better make an effort to keep your nose out of their business lest they send you home without your little girl."
Daniel really wanted his hallucination to shut the Hell up and go away. He desperately wanted to tell him so but he was still uncomfortable with the idea of Kate seeing him fully engaging in conversation with a non-existent adversary.
"Afraid she'll leave you," Drexler taunted "Afraid she won't be able to handle the truth of you, just like Miranda. You have been since she called off the wedding. And now this baby thing... What are you going to do?"
The car was stopped at a red light when Daniel felt Kate's hand alight on his arm. His focus shifted from the rear view mirror, through which he had been watching his hallucination, to her face.
She smiled softly, understandingly though when she spoke it became clear that she had, at least in part, misinterpreted the reason behind his worried expression "You're going to be a great father Daniel," she assured.
He nodded and smiled gratefully at her "I wish I had your confidence," the light turned green and Kate's focus returned to the road. "There's a reason Miranda never told me she was pregnant," he added as he turned to gaze out the passenger window.
"Maybe she was waiting for the right moment?" Kate suggested "Considering the way the two of you left things..."
"Colleen is five months old," Daniel pointed out "Numerous right moments have already come and gone."
"Sometimes the right moment never comes," Kate mused "Sometimes you have to act in the wrong moment," she smiled wryly "Sometimes it takes an outside force, like some gorgeous, brilliant idiot standing up at your wedding to provide you with that right moment."
"Gorgeous, brilliant idiot?" Daniel turned from the window "You know how to make a guy feel special."
"Well you could have said something sooner, idiot," Kate explained.
"You could have said something," Daniel objected indignantly "If I knew how you felt..."
Kate laughed "All I'm saying is that Miranda could have been planning to tell you but things, like the way she hurt you, probably made her hesitant to pick up the phone,"
Daniel nodded and was about to turn back to the window when Kate spoke again.
"And I felt like I owed Donnie something," she murmured as they arrived at another red light.
Daniel leaned towards her "Because of Shelby?" he asked, following the change of topic without missing a beat.
Kate shook her head "Before that," she admitted "He showed up in Chicago looking like a wounded puppy. I wanted to hate him but over time I started to think I was unfair to him. Shelby just made it worse..." she sighed heavily as the light turned green.
There was a long silence in the car for several minutes after that. Daniel was relieved when Drexler did not pop up again to taunt him. The silence lasted almost until they reached the airport. Daniel was the one to speak. Another worry that had been plaguing him for the past few hours insisted upon itself "I really don't think I would be able to do this without you," he admitted "I know I'm asking too much-"
"Daniel," Kate interrupted "You didn't ask me for anything. I offered," she pulled into a parking space at O'Hare "And before you go thinking that you're inconveniencing me," she unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned in close to him "I would go to Hell and back for you so Paris is nothing."
Daniel enveloped her in his arms "I love you Kate Moretti," he kissed her.
She caressed his cheek lovingly when the kiss broke "I love you Daniel Pierce," she replied "Now let's go get your daughter."