Will passed the basketball to her daughter and grinned as she passed it back just as hard. "Age before beauty," she quipped.

It was their Saturday morning ritual: breakfast and a little one-on-one at the basketball courts. The squeaky tennis shoes, the smell of sweat and sports equipment. It was oddly endearing. Danni loved every second of Saturday basketball with her dad. It was their time to just let loose and have fun. There was no clients, no judges, no one walking in and interrupting them every five minutes. Even if they did get interrupted, they enjoyed their time while they had it.

What Danni didn't know was Will enjoyed their Saturday mornings more than she probably did. Any one-on-one time with his daughter was treasured. That's why he was so protective of the dances his daughter saved for him at galas and he didn't mind sitting in traffic in the middle of rush hour talking about anything in the world. It was the reason why he bought them ballet tickets and took her to Cubs games or the Bulls (anything but football, the one sport Danni hated).

She grinned at him wearing his Georgetown t-shirt while she proudly sported the Bulls. They both were laced up and ready to play.

Though she was barely five foot five, she was a hell of a player. She had talent, dedication, and agility that left Will feeling every bit his age. She probably wouldn't play in college, but she was a still a hell of a player. If she wanted a cross country scholarship, she could probably get one, but Will and Alicia would both feel better if she just went to a school she really wanted to go and could focus on her studies.

Will cross the ball between his legs as he dribbled, showing off a little as Danni was up on her toes, ready to go whatever direction he chose. Her hair was tied into a long ponytail and her hands were open on either side of her and she was ready to steal the ball.

"Ready to lose?" he asked her, narrowing his eyes and reaching up to pull on her ponytail.

Before he could even take a step, she had the ball in her hands and was moving past him for an easy layup. Will looked down at his hands that had held the ball only moments before. He didn't even really realize she took it from him until she was already laying the ball in the hoop and looking at him with a devilish grin.

"You little-"

Both their heads turned to the sound of his cell phone ringing. It was the telltale sign of another tradition: the tradition of their tradition being cut short. Will looked apologetically at his daughter who was already pulling her hoodie on and over her t-shirt.

"Next time, kiddo," Will said reaching for his phone.

Danni shrugged good-naturedly. She wasn't upset. "I still won, old man."

An hour later, Danni was walking into a makeshift courtroom in her dad's Georgetown sweatshirt and her basketball pants. She felt very underdressed even with Will wearing jeans and a casual shirt, but she was enjoying herself. She liked court. She liked watching her dad in action. Some dads were superheroes to their little girls and Will was no exception. In fact, he was still pretty much her superhero.

"This is a delaying tactic, Your Honor," Will stated as they all followed the judge in.

The other man who followed alongside them scoffed at his remark. "She was contacted this morning. That's not a delaying tactic; that's a simple procedural—"

Danni could already see the impatience on the judge's face as he took off his coat. "Sit down."

Though the men both moved toward the table to unpack their things and take a seat. Will nodded for Danni to take the seat behind him and she quickly obeyed. The man who had been texting the entire time as he tried to talk to the judge looked over at her suspiciously as he took a seat across from Will.

The judge placed his coat on the back of his chair. "Okay, let's begin. Judge Robert Parks, emergency on-call justice, presiding over plaintiff request for declaratory judgment on medical procedure… R-H-L-H-S. An emergency injunction preventing nonpayment by insurance company Life State. Mr. Harper." Judge Parkers motioned for the man that had been staring at Danni for the last few seconds, pulling his attention.

"Your Honor, we're asking for a delay of eight hours. Our lead attorney was caught unaware by this emergency motion," Mr. Harper explained. There was something about him that Danni just didn't like. He seemed to be pulling some sort of spoiled rich boy attitude that never set well with Danni and was not a way to talk to a judge.

Will quickly stood up, ready to get his opinion in. "Your Honor, this surgery needs to happen now. Life State's strategy is to run down the clock. They have no defense, so they want to make your ruling irrelevant. In three days' time, my clients' baby could be dead."

"Objection!" Mr. Harper scoffed, giving Will a look of a truly smug bastard. "Your client's fetus."

Danni couldn't help the small sound that escaped from her throat in disbelief at the way the man said those words. Her political views aside, his tone disrespected the very fact that whether or not the man wanted to believe what was growing in the woman's stomach was a human or not, it was definitely alive and loved by someone.

Will tossed his daughter a gentle warning look, knowing that the sound was involuntary, but was thankful when the judge was just as taken back. "Thank you, Mr. Harper. I'm sure we'll all feel much better with that distinction." Obviously, he chose the wrong judge to say that in front of. "This is an emergency court. You get your attorney in here, or you start arguing for yourself. Do you understand, Mr. Harper?"

The man scowled at the judge as he reached for his phone. "I do."

Will took a moment to get his files in order before turning back to check on his daughter. "Why don't you go get us some coffee? We may be here a while, kiddo. You sure you don't just want to take my car back?"

Danni shook her head. "Definitely not. I never get to see you argue cases unless it's in summer. This is fun."

Judge Parker smiled at the girl, noticing her polite presence. "And I'm sorry, you are?"

Danni stood and smiled at the judge easily. Obviously she had met too many judges in her life. Then again, she probably never met a stranger. She was a lot like her dad in that way. "Danni Gardner, Your Honor. I apologize for my attire. My dad and I were getting ready to play basketball when he received a call."

Judge Parker smirked at her professional tone and ease in a courtroom. "It's nice to meet you, Danni."

The girl leaned over her dad's shoulders and grabbed his keys off the table. "I'll go get us coffee."

Will accepted his daughter's quick kiss on the cheek before she headed for the door. Even in his early days of law school, he never called that baby a fetus. From the moment he accepted the reality of him becoming a father, Danni was always his baby. It just became truer over time.

Alicia walked in a few minutes into his questioning the doctor carrying a bag of Danni's clothes and a concerned expression when she realized that her daughter wasn't in the room. Still, she had to quickly catch up on wherever Will was. It was a question that could wait a second.

As soon as the judge called a ten minute recess, Alicia and Will went to find their clients. "Where's my kid?" Alicia asked lightly, feeling somewhat better about the situation since they were getting a short break to breathe.

Her question was quickly answered she opened the door and was greeted with Danni's smile falling to a frown. "I didn't know you'd be here too."

Alicia rolled her eyes as Will took his coffee, looking somewhat triumphant. "That's a nice way of thanking someone who brought you a change of clothes," Alicia replied, moving back into the room.

"It's not that I'm not happy to see you. It's more that now I have to share my coffee," Danni explained, following her. Alicia turned around at the word and happily accepted her daughter's cup. She took a whiff of the coffee before putting it to her lips. As Alicia took a drink she noticed Danni studying Patti, the other attorney, and her baby.

"Is it bring your kid to work day?" Danni mumbled as she picked up the bag her mom brought.

Will raised his eye brows in agreement while Alicia tried to stay fair minded. "It is a Saturday, last minute case, it's not easy to find a sitter on such short notice."

"You don't believe that," Danni replied, noticing her mother's hesitance.

"I don't. But you have a change of clothes and-"Alicia dangled her car keys in front of her daughter's face, "an escape from the courtroom."

But Danni shook her head and opened the bag to see exactly what her mom brought her to wear. "Absolutely not. I'm sticking around. You and Dad arguing a case. I want to see-" Her words were cut short as she pulled out the powder pink shirt and looked at her mom with an Are you serious? expression.

"What?" Alicia groaned.

"Okay, Mom, points for trying… but this isn't my shirt," Danni explained. "This is Grace's shirt and the fact you think I'd wear this makes me a little sad." She clucked her tongue menacingly as she fold the shirt again. "You don't know me at all, Mother."

Alicia rolled her eyes and took the shirt from her daughter. "My apologies. I'm a terrible mother. I don't deserve your love. Will you ever forgive me?"

Danni examined the jeans and boots her mother also packed and then glanced down at her current oversized sweatshirt. The girl thought for a moment before pulling her hair out of the ponytail and fluffing it. Glancing at her reflection in the glass window, she shrugged.

"I'll have to pull off the eighties look, but I've seen pictures. If you can do it, I can do it," Danni said going up on her toes and kissing her Mom on the cheek like she did her father earlier.

As Danni headed for the restroom to change, Alicia's narrowed eyes followed her. "I want to say that was a compliment, but at the same time she's the product of two lawyers and that didn't quite feel like a compliment."

Will thought for a moment then nodded. "Yeah, don't take that as a compliment. She showed me the pictures too."

Alicia sucker punched her old friend in the arm and stuck her tongue out at him. "Jerk."

The Good Wife

It was safe to say she was panicking.

Her guard was down. Will's guard was down. He was angry at himself. He blamed himself for the loss of a case, a case lost in front of their daughter, which would result in a baby dying. There had been an option open the entire time, a less ideal option, but it would have at least let those parents have the surgery to save their child.

And Alicia comforted him. She liked his vulnerability, it felt more honest. Will was so good at hiding it that it made people forget he was human. But Alicia was familiar with his human side. It was the side she met at Georgetown and the side she saw when he was with Danni. Human Will was… it was like coming back to a safe place.

Then he looked at her. Those eyes bearing into her soul and for a few moments, she didn't run away from him. She let him look. After all, they had a daughter together, there was nothing of her that he hadn't seen before.

Though she knew she was too close, she didn't move when he stood up. Their bodies were already touching and the voice in her head telling her to run was silenced by the familiar feeling of his warmth. Their eyes were locked as his hand slid over her chin, gently tracing her lips with his thumb, and settled against her neck.

As he leaned toward her, her eyes fell closed. Anticipation made her breath hitch just as his lips hit hers. He was hesitant, afraid she would run away, but he had to try.

It only lasted a handful of seconds before he pulled away. His eyes searched her expression, but she gave away nothing. Her mind was too busy still feeling his hands on her. Eighteen years, and he still had a way of stealing her breath.

"The last time you kissed me like that…" she whispered, her hands sliding up his arms, "… I got my first B on a test the next day."

Will chuckled as his thumb continued brushing her jaw bone and his other hand came around her waist. Her eyes weren't on his though. They were too busy following the path of her arms going up his arms and closer to his neck. "I don't regret that night for a second. Danni will always be a miracle."

The mention of their daughter's name made her bristle. Danni. She couldn't be playing these games with Will when they had a daughter that would be caught in the crossfire. This could end badly and Danni would be the one with a shattered heart and Alicia wasn't sure if she could bear to know that was the reason behind her daughter's pain was once again her fault.

"Alicia."

Will's voice brought her attention back to him. Those warm brown eyes didn't make her want to run, but instead…

A sob choked her, sending her forward against Will's chest as a strings of tears started to roll down her cheeks. Her body felt weak as she realized how horrible of a mother she was acting. Zach and Grace needed their father, she was still married to Peter and was supposed to be fixing their situation, and Danni… Danni's fragile heart would be broken if Alicia pursued this and someone got hurt.

Will took a deep breath as his arms wrapped around her. His lips pressed against her hair as she cried into his shirt. Part of him saw this coming. It did not surprise him.

"We can't do this, Will," she mumbled as her tears slowed. "We're putting too much on the line for a whirlwind romance."

"Then let's not make it a whirlwind romance," Will suggested, gently pulling her back so he could look her in her tear stained face. "We'll go slow."

"Will-"

But Will shook his head looking at her firmly. "A secret. Yours and mine. I'm not asking you to stop trying with Peter, I'm just asking you to see where we go."

Alicia gave him a weary look, but she didn't immediately disagree. "Danni," she said simply. "She'll see it. She's smart. She knew something was up with Peter way before the scandal came to light and she'll know something is going on with us."

"Then we'll be even more careful," Will replied softly. "I think we owe it to ourselves, and to Danni, to try."

With a deep breath, Alicia let her head fall on Will's chest. "This is a horrible idea," she mumbled. Yet as much as her head screaming warning, her lips were tugging into a smile and her body already liked the feeling of Will's arms around her. It terrified her.

I would really like to hear your thoughts! Please review. Oh, and I do plan on adding some Kalinda-Danni stuff, but I was already writing this chapter and couldn't think of a good way to add it.