A/N: For the record, you guys are amazing, and the feedback and suggestions you gave were awesome! Thanks so much, and now, a little time hopping.
3 months later...
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"Ladies! We're gonna be late! And you know how Mac is with punctuality! Dovrei rimanere singolo," Danny muttered under his breath as he sprinted/skidded from one end of the hall to the other, effectively crashing into his bedroom door. He shook his head once to clear the stars and opened the door just in time to catch Lindsay slipping into his favorite skirt: the one that hugged her curves in all the right places. "Hey. Let's just send her and stay home?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively and Lindsay laughed, shaking her head. "Danny! Behave. You know we can't let her go by herself, not to a boring police dinner." Lindsay made sure her voice was loud enough to travel and Danny laughed. She tugged the skirt into place before crossing to her dresser and rifling through her jewelry drawer in attempt to find the right earrings.
Danny came up behind her and rested his head on her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her waist. "How the hell did sixteen sneak up on us?" he whispered into his wife's ear, studying their reflection in the mirror. Lindsay let out a triumphant "HA!" as she found the studs she was looking for and began to put them in her ears. Her eyes met his in the mirror and she shrugged. "It didn't really…we had that big case the week of her actual birthday, then there was the streak of delinquencies that have stopped," she looked pointedly at Danny as he rolled his eyes and he flashed his heart-melting grin that still had an effect on her, "and she was grounded for three weeks, so that brings us to today."
Danny nodded slowly, letting Lindsay turn and search for her shoes without actually letting go of her waist. "Still, this is her Sweet Sixteen party. Although, I know if my parents had waited until two months after my actual birthday to throw a party," his voice lowered until Lindsay had to strain to hear, "that I don't know about," he stepped back and let Lindsay step into her pumps, "I'd probably think they'd forgotten about me."
Lindsay turned to face her husband, smiling. "Which is why this will come as such a surprise. Besides, March is a much nicer month to throw a party in than January, especially with all this nice weather we've been getting." She cocked her head, calculating. "Are you shrinking?"
"I can't find my shoes." Danny grinned apologetically. "I was kinda hopin' you knew where they were?"
An exasperated sigh was his reply and Lindsay pointed to the closet door. "They're where you put them last time, remember?"
A wave of remembrance crossed Danny's handsome features and he dove under the bed to come up holding a shoe in each hand. At Lindsay's astonished expression, he shrugged. "I never put my shoes in the closet." Standing, he kissed his wife on the nose before sitting on the end of the bed to put on the offending items. "I still love you, dear."
Lindsay rolled her eyes. "You're a moron sometimes, you know that?"
Danny stood, shrugging. "Hey, you married me." He spread his arms, a cocky half-smile on his lips. "How do I look?"
Lindsay let her eyes wander over her husband's body, blushing as her eyes met his and his grin grew wider. "Not too bad, for the father of a sixteen year old," she couldn't help but tease and her snort of laughter did nothing to cover his groan. He pulled her into a hug, laughing, and they stood still for a moment, simply being.
"Ahem." A small cough caused Lindsay and Danny to look up in surprise to see Meghan standing in their doorway, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed. Lindsay was instantly reminded of Mac, a pig, and tiger dung. She's got to stop looking so much like her father. "We gonna be late for this thing, or what?" Meghan pushed herself off the doorframe, shaking long strands of brown hair from her face. Lindsay nodded, going to her daughter. "Yes, we're going." She hugged Meghan briefly, squeezing tightly for effect. "Thanks for being such a good sport, kiddo. I know how much you wanted to hang out with your friends tonight."
Meghan shrugged. "Nah, it's not a big deal. Jason will be there, so we can probably come up with our own entertainment." She bit her lip, holding back a grin as her father stopped in the doorway and looked at her, eyebrows raised. "Kidding, Pop, c'mon." She lightly punched his shoulder, winking. "Forget about it."
Danny nodded. "Yeah, sure." He pointed down the hallway, mock-severity on his face. "Walk."
Following her father's orders, Meghan waltzed through the living room, humming lightly to herself. Lindsay followed close behind, taking Danny's hand when they reached the front door. He smiled and kissed her forehead. "Ready?" he whispered, locking the front door behind them. Lindsay nodded and called to their daughter to hold the elevator.
---
"This isn't what I had in mind when y'all said NYPD Banquet," Meghan leaned between the front seats to study the glowing neon sign of Tony's Italian as Danny pulled into a parking spot in front of the restaurant. "I'm guessing the governor's not gonna be here?"
"No shit, Sherlock." Danny laughed as Lindsay reached over and smacked him on the shoulder. "Danny, watch your language."
"Yeah, Dad, don't be a smart-ass." Meghan was smart enough to dodge her mother's hand and she vaulted out of the crime lab's standard SUV, wrapping an arm around her father's neck as he climbed out of the truck as well, laughing. "You, sir, are a bad influence."
Lindsay snorted, as Danny's face took on an expression of mock-hurt. "I'm a bad influence?" He scoffed, looking at his wife incredulously. "Did you hear that?" He glanced at his daughter over his glasses, blue eyes sparkling. "Have ya looked at the company ya keep lately?"
Meghan took her arm from its place on her father's shoulders. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Okay, you two, let's not fight tonight, please?" Lindsay threaded her arm through her husband's, and pulled her daughter to her in a one-armed hug. "You're right, this isn't an NYPD dinner. But the restaurant was your father's idea, so give him some credit," she whispered to Meghan and the young woman grimaced. "Yeah, yeah." She pushed open the doors, grinning. "Technically, Dad insulted himself, because I haven't been out of his sight since I got over my probation."
Danny stopped, thinking, and nearly got hit in the face with a glass door. "Hey!" he yelled, barely throwing his hands up in time to block the door. Meghan laughed and turned to escape into the warm atmosphere of the familiar restaurant. She stopped stock still when the reason her parents had been so secretive for the past month caught her sightline. She felt her eyes widen and her jaw drop open, all smart comebacks rushing out of her mind in one strong gust of wind. "Happy Birthday, Meg," her father's voice piped up in her ear and she felt tears spring to her eyes.
"SURPRISE!" The strength of the cheers caused Meghan to take a step back, bumping into her mother. She took a deep breath and burst into hysterical giggles, joining in the laughter of her "family". "Did you guys call the whole crime lab, or what?" she muttered to her parents and Lindsay smiled. "Just the people who have watched you grow from a baby on Danny's shoulders to a young woman who's almost taller than I am."
Meghan looked at her mother over her shoulder, brown eyes shining with tears and excitement. "So, pretty much everybody, then?"
Lindsay pulled her daughter into a hug, nodding. "Yeah. Pretty much everyone."
The three of them made their way through the tables to the back of the restaurant, where Meghan was immediately pulled into a hug by her godmother, Stella, and had her hair ruffled by her godfather, Don. She hugged Peyton and even kissed Mac on the cheek, laughing as the usually stoic CSI blushed. "Happy Birthday, kiddo," Mac said, his voice louder than usual to get over the sounds of the party.
"Thanks, Mac," Meghan replied, smiling. She turned to see Marty Pino and Adam Ross, clapping her hands. "I'm honored! I get reps from the morgue and the techs! Sweet!"
Adam's face creased in a smile as he handed her a pair of sunglasses that looked like her father's regular pair of lenses. "So you can glare at me over a pair of glasses like your old man," he explained to a confused Meghan and she complied with the famous Messer grin, searching for her dad. "They're perfect!" she threw her arms around Adam's neck, laughing. "Thanks, Adam."
She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Marty handing her a card. "This is from Sid. He said he's enjoying his retirement, and wanted to get up here, but was 'detained'." he told her, his fingers making the infamous quotation marks sign, and Meghan's eyes grew wide. "I'm afraid to open it."
"Meghan!" Lindsay had overheard the comment and Danny laughed when Lindsay told him what their daughter had said. "Well, I would be, too!" Danny pushed his glasses up with a knuckle and took the card from his daughter. "With Sid, you can never tell."
A quiet chuckle from behind them made Meghan duck under her father's arm to come face to face with Sheldon Hawkes. "Hey, Hawkes!"
"Happy Birthday, Meg. Sorry I'm late, just finishing some paperwork." He pulled her into a warm embrace and Meghan returned the gesture, smiling. "Not a problem. My parents haven't started fighting yet, so you didn't miss much."
"Hey!" A reproachful look from both Lindsay and Danny caused the whole assembly to break into applause and laughter, making Meghan beam. She looked around the crowd, her face falling briefly as she failed to locate one face in particular. "You okay?" Hawkes asked softly, and Meghan shook her head, clearing her thoughts, before pasting her smile back on. "Yeah, I'm fine! This is great!" She bit her lip as Hawkes raised his eyebrows, reminding her that he saw everything, and the momentary loss of happiness hadn't been lost on him. "It's just that, I don't see Jason."
"Ah." Sheldon nodded knowingly, his warm brown eyes sparkling. "I'm sure he's here somewhere." He stood on tiptoe, attempting to see over the crowd. Meghan bit the inside of her cheek and searched as well, when a sudden shrill blast made everyone shout with pain and turn their eyes to where Flack stood on a table, beaming. "Now that I've got everyone's attention, it's time to bring out the cake and sing to the birthday girl." He spotted Meghan in the crowd and waved her over. She was pushed from all sides by invisible hands and soon found herself next to the table the tall detective was occupying. Flack reached down his hand and Meghan took it, shrieking as she was hoisted onto the table with to her godfather. "Now, don't laugh, because when I heard this, I did, and he wouldn't sing anymore." Flack announced to the crowd and Danny grinned at his daughter's bemused expression. Suddenly, the whole establishment went dark except for a single spotlight focused on the kitchen doors and the crowd went quiet.
"Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You;
Meghan clapped a hand to her mouth in surprise as Jason stepped out of kitchen doors, wheeling before him an enormous cake that had the words "Sweet Sixteen, Meghan!" inscribed in blue frosting on a white background. Jason's gentle baritone flooded the room and Meghan could feel Flack swelling with pride at the excellent quality of his son's voice.
"It's the Irish in him," Stella whispered to Lindsay, and the other woman laughed quietly, staring at the young man in the green dress shirt, whose eyes were focused solely on one person.
Happy Birthday, Meghan Marie,
Happy Birthday to You."
Jason's eyes never left Meghan's and she blushed as he bowed low, a warm smile playing about his lips. The lights came back on as soon as they had turned off and the whole New York Crime lab erupted into cheers that made Jason grin self-consciously. He left the cake in the care of Tony, the restaurant patron, and wound his way through the crowd until he reached the table Meghan was standing on. Lifting his arms, Jason smoothly helped Meghan down from her perch, setting her gently on the floor. "Happy Birthday," he whispered and Meghan shook her head, giggling. "Thanks. That was amazing." She blushed as she realized her hands were still on his shoulders and Jason smiled, brining his head closer to hers. "Hey, Meg, listen, I was wonderin'…"
"Jason! Come help me for a sec, will ya?" Don's voice cut over the noise in the room and Jason rolled his eyes, grinning. "Hold that thought," he told Meghan, pulling away from her and going to his father. He turned to look at her from across the room, and her breath hitched when their eyes caught. What was he wondering? Dammit, Flack.
"Looks like you found him." Hawkes' gentle voice cut into her thoughts and Meghan rolled her eyes. "Yeah, thanks for the update." She looped her arm through his, nudging him with her shoulder. "Did you know about that?"
Sheldon nodded. "We all did. It was Jason's idea." He winked at her. "He cares a lot about you, you know."
Meghan opened her mouth but no words came out. She stared at him, dumbstruck and Hawkes nodded slowly. "While you process that information, I'm going to go get a drink." He patted her hand while he pulled free of her and Meghan closed her mouth, still mute. A hand on her back made her start and she blinked a few times before meeting Danny's smiling eyes. "Hey, we're gonna eat. C'mon." He gently guided his daughter to a large round table, seating her between two empty chairs. "You look like someone just hit you on the back of the head with a very heavy object," Danny informed her, and Meghan looked up at her father. "Close, detective, but no cigar." She watched as Danny took the seat to her right, and Lindsay took the chair to the right of him. "So who's here?" she asked, gesturing to the empty space to her left.
"Is this seat taken?" A familiar voice made Meghan smile and she looked up to be greeted by warm green eyes. "Nope, it's all yours," she replied softly, ignoring her father's snort, which Danny quickly hid in a cough. Jason pulled out the chair and slid into it quickly, looking up to see Mac across from him, observing quietly. Jason nodded to the older man and Mac smiled as Peyton whispered something in his ear, her eyes focused on the pair of teenagers across from them. Leaning to his right, Jason gently touched on Meghan's hand to get her attention. "I think they planned this," he whispered and Meghan nodded, smiling as Stella sat next to her son, followed by Don on her left. "How do ya figure?" Her eyes sought his and Meghan shrugged, bringing her chin to her shoulder. Jason grinned toothily, biting his bottom lip. "Elementary, my dear Watson," he replied and Meghan giggled, shaking her head. Jason gazed at her a moment longer before turning to stare at the red-checked tablecloth, still smiling.
"Look at them," Hawkes whispered to Don. "They're perfect for each other." Flack turned to the man to his left, considering. "Mac's bettin' twenty bucks on two weeks. Care to up the odds?" He pulled out his little black book, blue eyes wide with the challenge and Hawkes looked about him for a moment before leaning in and muttering, "I'll go three weeks."
"Excellent." Don made a notation in his book, a large flourish accompanying his grin. He tucked the book back into his jacket pocket, nodding to Hawkes. "Pleasure doin' business with ya."
A/N: Whew! I had to split the party into two parts, so stay tuned!
