Chapter 3

By the time the following Saturday rolled around, Sara and Neal were exhausted. It had been a gruelling week. They sat in the Burkes' living room and let Peter totally take the lead with Hope as Elizabeth proceeded to serve them hand and foot.

On Tuesday, Sara had gone dress shopping with Elizabeth – and what an experience that had been! There was so much to choose from and after trying on one dress after another, they all had started to look alike. Sara looked great in everything, which in this case, was not a good thing. She couldn't eliminate certain styles in favor of others that suited her better – everything looked amazing. Elizabeth was doing her best, giving her friend some honest feedback and trying to get her to look at pros and cons but El was also having trouble focussing on what was the best choice for Sara.

In the end, Sara went with her gut and her personality and chose a beautiful off-white dress that fell just below the knee. It was tight fitting showing off her curves and had a beautifully ornate overlay throughout. The back and short sleeves were sheer with the same stunning overlay. The translucent back was highlighted by 25 beautifully covered buttons. She looked amazing and the good news was that it needed very little alteration and would be ready in just two weeks. Then came the shoes. After trying dozens of different styles, she went with a 3 inch plain pump that was in the same material as her dress – very elegant but not showy. All that was left was to decide how she was going to wear her hair and what, if anything, she would wear on her head.

Neal actually got home before Sara got back, even though he had to stop and pick up the car they had rented for a couple of days to go house hunting. They were visiting a house in Peekskill that evening and their realtor, Linda Jarvis, swore was the perfect house for them. Neal arrived shortly after five and relieved June of her babysitting duties, thanked her profusely and carried Hope up to the apartment as she gurgled and smiled up at her daddy. The showing was at 7:30 so dinner would have to be quick. He took out some cold cuts and fresh bread and set them out on the table with some coleslaw. Hope was beginning to fuss so Neal had a look in the fridge to see if Sara had left any bottles of breast milk but he was out of luck. He walked around going from the fridge to the table with Hope in his arms, jiggling her in one arm while he placed the cutlery on the table. Just as he was finishing setting everything up, Sara walked in, looking totally done in.

'Hi' greeted Neal, with a smile as he cradled Hope

Sara kicked off her shoes, dragged herself over to the couch and flopped 'Hey' she answered

Neal, brought Hope over to her mom to be fed 'So, how did the dress shopping go?' he asked.

'Exhausting! I think I tried on every single wedding dress within a ten mile radius' said Sara

'Successful, though?' asked Neal trying to get a sense of what she'd chosen

'Oh, no you don't. You're not getting anything out of me. You didn't want to be involved with helping me choose, you can damn well wait until I show up on our wedding day' she said, teasing. 'Neal, you really have to start thinking about what you're going to wear, too. It's not all about the bride, you know'

'Yeah, I'll talk to June and see if she's got anything really special of Byron's stashed away'

Sara looked up at him as he placed Hope in her arms to be fed. 'You know, you can buy a new suit, Neal. We have the money'

'And pass up an opportunity to wear an amazing vintage suit?' he said as he loaded up a plate of food to bring to her

'You do remember we're looking at a house tonight, right?' he added

'Oh, shoot. I totally forgot. I could so do without that' said Sara

'Well, this could be the one' said Neal 'Great neighborhood, parks, schools, three bedrooms, large yard'

'Do you hear yourself? Did you ever think Neal Caffrey would have the least bit of interest in any of the things you just listed?'

'You're right' he said coming to sit down next to her with his own plate 'what a difference a year makes!'

The house turned out to be a disappointment. It was a nice enough home with three bedrooms and a very large fenced yard. The kitchen was beautiful, according to Neal who was the cook in the family and it had a nice family room nearby where Hope could play under the watchful eye of her parents. But it was on a very busy street which was a deal breaker so they thanked the realtor and once again went over their 'must have' list with her – it had included, from the beginning, a nice quiet street.

It was late when they got back home and Hope had fallen asleep in the car. She didn't react well to being disturbed as she was brought up to the apartment and put to bed. Sara had convinced Neal that they should start letting her sleep in her own room – after all, they had a state of the art baby monitor, compliments of Uncle Mozzie – and that way, they could reclaim a bit of space for themselves. Neal was more hesitant, feeling the need to have her close by at night in case she cried. Despite his qualms, he agreed to give it a try and see how it went so down she went in her beautifully appointed bedroom as Neal tucked her in and kissed her goodnight. By the time he made it back to his own bed, Sara was already sound asleep and he was not far behind.

The following day was Hope's two month doctor's appointment and the first in a series of vaccinations. Sara had not been looking forward to going alone so Neal had arranged to take the afternoon off to accompany them. The initial check up went off without a hitch. Their paediatrician, Dr. Jameson, was a gentle older man who had a way of speaking very calmly to his baby patients and Hope took to him without a problem. She now weighed 11 pounds and according to the doctor, she was thriving in every area of her development. Neal beamed at the news as if he could take credit in any way for her healthy development. Then came the moment to immunize her; she was getting three shots and as soon as the first one was administered, she began to shriek. Neither one of them liked to hear their baby girl cry but Neal was the one who had the lowest tolerance when it came to Hope's crying. In typical Neal style, he always wanted to make everything better and he couldn't stand to see the people he loved suffering in any way.

Sara held Hope firmly so the doctor could complete the task and she tried talking gently to her, reassuring her, but Hope would have none of it and after the second needle, Neal couldn't take anymore, excused himself and actually left the room to wait in the reception area.

'Sorry about that' he said as Sara joined him in the waiting room 'I just couldn't take it'

'It's not the last time she's going to cry, Neal' warned Sara

'I don't have to like it' he answered as he put out his arms to take her from Sara. She had cried herself to sleep and her tear-stained cheeks were red and hot to the touch.

The following two days had been hell. Hope had reacted to the vaccinations by running a low grade fever and crying almost non-stop from morning until night. This was so unlike their daughter that they had ended up in emergency with her, only to be told that she would be fine with a small dose of children's Tylenol and a lot of tender loving care. They took turns holding her, rocking her, talking to her, singing softly, walking around and around the apartment bouncing her in their arms. They even tried her in the car seat driving around in their rented car but to no avail. She was inconsolable. Thursday faded into Friday without relief in sight and Neal actually fell asleep at his desk just before lunch on Friday. He was running on about two hours of sleep and had more of the same to look forward to when he went home.

Luckily, it had been a rather quiet week at the office. There had been no new leads on the painting swap and they really had nowhere to go with the case unless someone spotted the piece of art somewhere or heard whispers about it being fenced. As usual, Mozzie had been enlisted to put his ear to the ground and as time passed, he was becoming less and less resistant to helping the Suits. Mozzie was an important asset to the Bureau and was himself, becoming a reliable CI of sorts – he could live with that as long as Peter continued to turn a blind eye to his extracurricular activities.

By Saturday, Hope's fever had finally broken but the damage was done as far as sheer exhaustion for Neal and Sara. Peter and Elizabeth had offered to babysit Hope while they went to look at yet another house, so the young couple drove out to Brooklyn with their happy baby in tow – mentally rolling their eyes at the thought that Hope had saved her sunny disposition for her godparents.

This time, the house they were looking at was in White Plains, an area Neal and Sara particularly liked and, once again, Linda swore it was the perfect house for them. It was - in so many ways. It was situated on a nice quiet street, had the required three bedrooms, a finished basement and a beautifully appointed kitchen/family room combination as well as a large yard. Disappointment loomed however when she told them the asking price... which was $300,000 over the top end of their budget.

Neal and Sara began the long drive back to Brooklyn, frustrated and tired, as they began to wonder if they would find the house that was right for them. Luckily, it was Saturday night and that meant dinner at the Burkes, always comforting and reassuring.

When they arrived, they were greeted by the wonderful smell of lasagna and the sound of Hope gurgling as she stared into her Uncle Peter's eyes. What a hoot those two were together, such an odd couple of souls who had lots of time for each other – life was funny that way.

They ate at the dining room table while Hope, set up in her baby seat, reigned over the proceedings and cooed as she looked around the table at her parents and godparents.

After dinner, the boys got cozy in the living room and watched the game on TV while Sara and Elizabeth got busy addressing the wedding invitations. In the end, Sara and Neal had chosen a very simple script and Neal had contributed an original motif which had been incorporated into the design and featured an anklet and a baton – a wink to the close friends who would be in attendance. It totally deviated from the traditional invitation but it really spoke to who these two kindred spirits were and Elizabeth couldn't help but smile as she tucked one of the invitations into an envelope.

The guest list included the best man (Peter), the maid of honor (Elizabeth), uncle Mozzie, grandma June, Diana and Christie, Clinton and his date, Reese and his wife, a couple of the probies from Neal's office and two colleagues of Sara's from Sterling Bosch that she was particularly fond of.

Peter and Elizabeth insisted that the young couple take it easy and relax while they took a short walk in the neighborhood with Hope and Satchmo – who had taken quite a liking to the new arrival. When they returned about an hour later, they found Neal with his head back against the couch and his mouth open snoring peacefully with Sara tucked in under his arm also sound asleep.

WCWCWCWCWCWC

Edward Walker was one arrogant and angry son a of a bitch. He had lived a charmed life making a bundle in acquisitions – and not always on the straight and narrow either. But after he retired, he had explored the world of bank heists, successfully at first in Boston, Chicago and Dallas but then he had run his scheme in New York and had come up against the daring Burke-Caffrey duo. Neal was the one who had figured out his identity from the calling card Walker had the balls to leave at the scene of every crime. Walker had been furious that this snot nosed CI would get the upper hand on him and he had vowed to turn the tables of Caffrey the first chance he got. Burke was one thing – he was an FBI agent and just doing his job but Neal, well he was something else and Walker had spent many hours over the past two years in his cell plotting ways he could best Caffrey.

Walker stood around his four car garage, admiring the two dozen or so forged paintings he had lifted from the little storage unit on Thornton Avenue. He had already chosen his next target. As a matter of fact, it was an old business associate of his who had an eclectic and rather large art collection. He knew the layout of the house and he remembered, from the last dinner party he'd attended, that they had a lesser known original Renoir hanging in their dining room. As a matter of fact, Neal Caffrey also liked that rare painting and had provided Walker with a lovely version that he could swap for it. So, knowing that George Dunfee was out of town with his wife for the week, he prepared for another fun romp on the dark side of the law.

TBC