Disclaimer: I obviously do not own CSI: NY. I just own my car, my laptop and my crazy muse who seems to want to write 4 different stories at a time. I also do own any characters that you do not recognize. You can borrow them if you ask permission first!
A/N: Okay. Thanks to everyone that read and reviewed! Here's the next chapter!! Many thanks to Aphina and Axellia for the beta. I don't own the chapter title either. That belongs to Desi Arnez!!
Chapter 9.
We're Having a Baby
When Cory awoke on Saturday morning, she was determined to put all the stress of the previous few weeks behind her. She wanted to smile again. She wanted to feel joy and Lindsay's baby shower was the perfect place to do that. She knew that she could escape the horrors of everyday life and embrace the wonder of a new life beginning. So with a smile (that was only partially forced) on her face, she kissed Danny and crawled out of bed. The party was starting at two and she knew that she had a lot to do before then.
Glancing at the clock, she realized that it was barely seven a.m. and shook her head. How is it that I always wake up early when I have something to do, she mused. She decided to let Danny sleep; he had a late night call out and she figured he was exhausted. With an industrious spirit, she decided that she needed to clean, so she did. Starting in the living and dining room, she began to sort out the mess that had gathered during the week, putting things back into their proper place and then proceeded to dust. Once done with that, she moved to the bathroom and finally the kitchen.
She had just finished doing the last load of dishes—a task that she hated with a passion—when Danny walked in, looking adorably sleepy in his faded sweatpants and wife beater. He was even rubbing his eyes to clear the sleep out of them. "Morning," he half mumbled through a yawn.
Cory smiled. "Afternoon, actually," she responded motioning to the clock which read twelve twenty-five. "Did you sleep okay?" she questioned while handing him a hot cup of coffee.
Danny smothered a yawn and accepted the mug with gratitude. "Yeah, but I missed waking up with you in my arms," he pouted as he leaned in for a kiss.
Cory obliged him and then cocked an eyebrow. "Today's the baby shower and I thought it was more important that I clean. The only thing I haven't done is vacuum the carpet and now that you're up, I'll hop on that. Then I can relax for a bit before getting the refreshments together."
Danny just nodded as he sunk down on a chair at the table, nursing the hot coffee, trying to clear the cobwebs out of his head. He hated late night calls, especially since this one had woken him up at one a.m. Luckily, he was home by six, but he still felt as if he'd gotten no sleep at all. Finally, he was alert enough to fix some cereal for breakfast and then yawning, he made his way back to the bedroom, to change into his workout clothes. Flack, Hawkes, Mac, Marty, Adam and he were going to shoot basketball while the girls had their baby shower.
Once dressed, he walked back into the living room, where Cory was pushing the vacuum cleaner around the chairs. He waved to get her attention and she smiled as she shut off the noisy machine. "I'm off to the court," he said.
Cory smiled as she walked over to him. "Okay. Have fun," she said as she kissed him chastely on the lips. "We should be done by six or seven."
Danny smiled at her. "Okay. I'll be home by eight then."
Cory smiled as she walked back to the vacuum to continue cleaning.
--
When two o'clock rolled around, Cory had everything prepared. She had made some hor d'ouevres, mainly a vegetable platter, a fruit platter, a cheese platter and some pigs in a blanket. She had also made a raspberry punch that she knew that Lindsay was going to love.
She had just taken the last batch of pigs in a blanket out of the oven when her buzzer rang. Smiling, she hit the intercom. "Yes?"
"It's Janet, Julie and Rebecca."
Cory's smile grew as she buzzed to let in Lindsay's mom and two sisters and soon the three women were knocking on her front door. She opened it and looked at the smiling faced. "I'm so glad that you could come!" she exclaimed. "Lindsay has no idea that y'all are going to be here, so this will be such a great surprise for her."
Janet Monroe smiled at her. "You did give us three months warning, Corrine. And the men can handle the ranch without us for a week," she responded with a chuckle.
Cory laughed a long with her. "You can put the gifts on the dining room table and I'll just finish setting up the food."
Julie, who Cory recognized from the wedding, just smiled as she followed her mom towards the table to put the gifts down. Cory looked at the one Monroe woman that she didn't know. Rebecca obviously took after her father, Paul. She had straight black hair and blue eyes. "You must be Rebecca," Cory said as she extended her hand to shake the other woman's.
Rebecca smiled, her blue eyes twinkling with good humor. "Yep, that's me. You must be Cory," she returned, gripping Cory's hand in a firm handshake. "I feel so bad that I couldn't make it to the wedding, but I was stationed in Iraq at the time and couldn't get leave to come back."
Cory nodded, knowing that the youngest of all the Monroe children had broken with the family tradition as much as she could. She was a Navy pilot. "Lindsay understood. That's why she made sure that the entire wedding was videotaped. She wanted to make sure that you still were able to see the wedding."
Rebecca nodded. "I did. Once Mama sent me the DVD, it was the first thing that I watched when I got some downtime. I must say that a lot of the guys on the ship with me were drooling over you guys."
Cory chuckled. "It happens. I'm glad you were able to get the leave to come here this time," she started as the buzzer rang again.
She buzzed up Stella, Lydia, Lindsay and Taylor. She smiled in conspiracy as Janet, Julie and Rebecca hid in the kitchen. When the girls got up, Cory guided the heavily pregnant Lindsay to the chair of honor and the rest of the women went to drop their presents on the table—and to say hi to Lindsay's mother and sisters in private. Once Lindsay was settled, Cory smirked, a truly Danny-like smirk, and winked. "Linds, I have a surprise for you."
Lindsay saw the twinkle in Cory's eyes and was relieved. She had been so much more sober since her kidnapping and it was good to see that she was returning to normal. She decided to tease her back and raised an eyebrow. "What? You got me a stripper?"
Cory looked stunned for a moment before breaking out in gales of laughter, bending over to grab her stomach as tears ran down her face in her glee. She managed to shake her head, but couldn't form any words as Janet called out of the kitchen, "Lindsay Ann Monroe-Flack! Is that anyway to talk at your baby shower?" she called out as she and the girls walked out of the kitchen, merriment dancing in their eyes.
Lindsay's eyes grew round in surprise as she squealed and managed to get out of the chair to hug her family. "Oh my God! You're here!" she gasped in happiness.
Julie hugged her and then pulled back to let Rebecca hug her. "You really don't think that we would miss your baby shower, do you?"
"Really sis, you should know us better than that! I'm not stationed half around the world this time, so I had to be here," Rebecca returned.
Lindsay just smiled as tears of joy filled her eyes. "It's so good to see you, Becca. How've ya been?"
Rebecca smiled lightly as winked. "Oh, you know me. Always the party where I go."
Lindsay just giggled as she shook her head. "Yup, that's you. The life of the party. You ever going to settle down?"
"Not while I'm still having fun," Becca returned automatically. "Now, let's get this party started!"
--
Danny was the first person to arrive at the court, but it didn't bother him. He people watched, studying the other men who where playing ball, seeing which of them had real talent and which were just there to have fun. He shrugged. He liked basketball, but baseball would always be his first love sports wise. He got distracted a bit by a couple in the playground of the park. The women had red hair like Cory's but a lot shorter and she was playing with a baby, who was cooing in contentment. He lost himself in a fantasy of having children with Cory and it was in that state of mind that Flack walked up.
"Why are you grinning like that, Danny?" Flack asked, intrigued.
Danny snapped out of reverie and looked at Flack sheepishly. "Just imagining beating you," he responded lightly.
Flack rolled his eyes, knowing full well that Danny had never beaten him on the court before. "So how is this going to play out? Who is gonna be on whose team?"
Danny shrugged as Marty and Adam walked up, gym bags slung over their shoulders. "We'll figure it out."
Flack nodded as he saw Mac and Hawkes walking up from the opposite side. They greeted the group and after a few minutes of discussion it was decided that Danny, Hawkes and Marty would be one team and Flack, Mac and Adam the other.
Quickly, they took to the court and their friendly game of ball quickly turned competitive. To Flack's surprise, Marty was fairly good and Adam wasn't half bad, so the teams were pretty evenly matched.
Danny smirked when his team took the lead and decided to up the stacks. "Whadda say that whoever wins, buys the other team dinner?"
Flack smirked. "I'm game," he answered as everyone nodded their agreement and they grew serious as they focused on the game more. Flack watched as Danny and Marty set up their next play and grinned. He could read Danny like a book when it came to basketball and quickly intercepted his pass to Marty. He turned and shot, easily sinking the three-pointer.
Danny just shook his head as he threw the ball back inbounds. And quickly they had evened the score. Only to lose it moments later as Mac shot sank a three point shot to reach twenty-one.
Danny shook his head. "Best two out of three?" he ventured.
Flack just laughed. "Sure Messer, try to weasel out of paying for dinner," he started, but then realizing how early it was acquiesced. "All right, best two out of three."
--
Back at the shower, the girls were chatting away, with Janet regaling them with stories of how each of her girls had taken forever to be born. "Rebecca was the worst. Dear Lord, I was in labor for thirty-six hours with her!"
The single and as of yet women with no children cringed in horror. "Oh, that's just awful," Taylor said, taking a sip of her punch. "How can you stand that much pain for so long?" she asked as she silently renewed her vow to never have children.
Janet shrugged. "The first thirty hours were relatively pain free. It was the last six that got to me. But, it was worth it, too hear her first cry," she said in remembrance.
Both Stella and Cory shook their head. "I can't imagine," Cory admitted. "I am so going to have to have an epidural when I have kids."
Stella nodded her agreement. "Oh yeah, but I can't imagine having kids right now."
Cory bit her lip. "I can, but I have to be careful. Twins run in my family and its something that I'm not sure that Danny realizes. I know he knows that my mom was a twin, but I think because she didn't have twins he doesn't think about it. But it skips a generation with us. So, there's a good chance that I will," she admitted.
The girls' eyebrows rose. "Huh," Lydia said. "Well, at least you can have two at a time and then choose not to get pregnant again!"
Everyone laughed as Cory shook her head. "Sure. But, I think it might be time for presents," she said as she got up and walked into the kitchen to gather everything together.
Lindsay settled back in the chair as the rest of the women helped to bring the presents in. She looked at the presents and decided to open the ones from her mom and sisters first. Inside, she found an assortment of onesies, socks, and little hats to keep the baby's head warm. Then she opened up the final present from her mom. She gasped in shock as she stroked the quilt lightly.
"It was your baby quilt," Janet said quietly. "The one that Grandma Monroe made for you."
Lindsay looked at her mom, tears shining in her eyes. "Oh, Mom. It's so perfect!"
She quickly opened the rest of the gifts and found more of the same; each woman had also gotten her a couple of packages of diapers, in differing sizes. Once she was done, Lindsay looked around. "Wow, how am I going to get all this stuff home?"
Cory smiled. "I have Danny bringing home one of the crime lab SUV's tonight and we'll get it all there, but there's more." She, Stella, Lydia and Taylor withdrew envelopes from their various purses. "From me, a free pass to see Sebastian after the baby is born. I know that you'll want a little pampering and he's just the person to do it!"
Lindsay grinned as she accepted the envelope and Stella handed her another envelope. "From me, a free dress from Georgie once you get back to your pre-baby size."
Lydia followed on her heels. "Free manicure and pedicure at this delightful spa that I found."
"And a free massage at the same spa from me," Taylor finished wryly. "I had Marty pick out all the baby stuff, but this was fun for me to do!"
Lindsay looked at her friends, realizing in that moment how lucky she was to have met all of them. "Thank you, so much!"
They just grinned at her, knowing that there was one more surprise in store for her. "And finally," Stella began as she pulled a couple of pictures out of her purse. "This is from Cory, Danny, Lydia, Hawkes, Marty, Taylor, Mac and me," she said as she handed her pictures of a crib set. "It's all the baby furniture that you'll need. Crib, changing table, dresser and a glider chair and ottoman for the nursery. The crib is actually a convertible one that will turn into a twin bed."
Lindsay felt her jaw drop as she realized exactly why Flack had been pushing off going to get the baby furniture. "Oh," she stammered. "Wow. Did Flack know about this?"
Cory nodded. "Yeah, we had to tell him, so he wouldn't buy the furniture. They guys promised that they would put everything together next weekend."
Lindsay quickly wiped tears from her cheeks. "You guys are the best!"
They just looked at her. "We wanted to and face it; you're the only one of us having kids right now!" Taylor chuckled. "I'm certainly not ready for them." She looked pensive for a moment. "Although, after baby shopping, I think Marty wants to." She looked nervous.
Cory giggled. "I know that Danny does, but right now I just want to get married!"
"Mac and I have never discussed it, but I can see having his baby," Stella admitted.
Lydia looked at the women. "Sheldon wants to, but I want to get a little more established before we go down that road."
Rebecca just looked around. "I'm happy being single!" Julie nodded her agreement.
Cory smiled. "What do you say that we get some dinner? It's almost six and the finger foods have worn off. I can order pizza, Chinese, what ever y'all want."
Lindsay nodded her head. "I could go for Chinese," she said as Cory rose to go grab the menu so they could finish the night off right.
--
Cory was just finishing up the cleaning when Danny walked in. She smiled at him, while smothering a yawn. "Sorry, I am so tired," she admitted.
"So am I, bella," Danny responded. "I'm going to go hit the shower and then I think I'm going to bed." He glanced around at the room. "We can pack up the SUV tomorrow and then I'll drop everything off at Lindsay's before my shift. I'm due in at three."
"Good idea. I'm just going to take the trash out then I'm hitting the bed, too," she said wearily as she tied up another trash bag.
Danny smiled as he walked towards the bathroom, feeling gritty from sweating most of the day. He took his shower quickly, but wasn't surprised to find Cory in the bed before him, wearing her Cowboy's jersey. Quickly, he slipped in beside her and gathered her into his arms, feeling himself already slipping off to sleep.
Cory tossed in her slumber, her brow furrowing as she was being pulled towards something. She finally opened her eyes, looking around the bluebonnet fields that always signaled when she had entered Limbo. Sighing, she looked at Armando, her spirit guide. He in reality was a friend who had died at the hands of Carlos Ortiz, a gang leader who had been obsessed with her. He had infiltrated the gang, in hopes of gathering enough evidence to put him behind bars for the murder of his best friend and Cory's fiancé, James. But in order to get into the gang's good graces, he had committed some crimes and as his repentance, he was serving as her guide to the visions that plagued her.
He bore a somber expression. Lifting an eyebrow, she looked at him. "Armando? Why am I here?"
He sighed, that is if a ghost could actually sigh. "Certain events are lining up, Cory. The Powers That Be don't know the outcome as of yet, but I'm here to guide you through a couple of them." He looked at her, his dark eyes serious. "I want to prepare you; what you are about to see is bad."
Cory looked at him, her heart beginning to race. "How bad?"
"You know that I can't tell you that, but I wanted to at least prepare you for it." He took her hand and Cory nodded, trying to steel herself for what was ahead.
Cory looked around the room, it looked like she was at Christmas dinner, but it must have been a couple of years in the future, for she saw herself and Danny sitting at her mom's table with a baby in between them. She looked around the table, seeing her mom, sister and a man she didn't know who was, who was looking at Beth with adoration in his eyes.
Beth's eyes were twinkling as she held out her hand. "Steven asked me to marry him!" she squealed.
Cory watched herself jump up from the table and grab her sister in a hug. "Sweetie, I'm so happy for you," she said softly but was interrupted by her phone ringing. She was puzzled as she picked it up, "Reid," she said before the blood drained from her face. "Oh my God," she said, her knees buckling. Danny managed to catch her before she hit the floor.
Cory looked at herself, trying to figure out what was going on.
Danny held the other Cory in his arms. "Bella? What is it?"
The other Cory looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. "Turn on the news," she managed to choke out between sobs.
Cory felt dread filling her stomach as she watched the group rush into the living room, where Danny turned it on to the local NBC station, channel 5. What she saw was the complete destruction of a city, fires burning. It looked like a war zone.
"Again, this is breaking news," the news anchor was saying. "There has been a coordinated attack on three major US cities. Shortly after noon eastern time, New York City was attacked by what appears to be a terrorist cell. These are pictures from a news helicopter that flew over the city thirty minutes ago," the man was saying, emotion thickening his voice and the image of mangled buildings filled the screen. "Millions are suspected to be dead, as the city burns out of control." The picture on the television changed to another city. "Similar attacks were carried out in both Chicago and Los Angeles."
Cory watched the news feed with her hands over her face, tears streaming out of her eyes as her mind thought the worse. All of her friends were dead. She barely felt Armando touch her shoulder and woke up with a silent scream.
AN: Okay. So I convinced my muse to come out a play for a bit. I hope y'all like this and really, it's not a cliffhanger because this storyline is playing out for a while and you'll only get bits and pieces for a bit! Review make the world go round...Please help my muse! She lives for them!!
Soccer - Thanks! I think I've convinced her to come back for a while!
Lapland - I think the vibes worked b/c my muse is back to being semi productive! Yeah!! Good luck with your stories b/c I think muses across the world have been on strike! I have lots of stuff planned for the school shooter storyline in the upcoming chapters, so you should find out at somepoint who is behind them. :D
BEG - No worries! Thanksgiving weekend, huh? That is the last thursday in Nov. for us. Then the Xmas shopping season starts. I avoid stores at all costs the day after Thanksgiving. It's a mad house! Hope things have calmed down a bit for you!
Aphina - I've been a completely horrible beta, so I understand! The jury is still out on whether or not Cory and Spencer are related. I honestly don't know at this point. I love the play between Adam and Danny in this story so far. Adam is my new favorite character! But I do love to jack with Danny's hopes. The bad guys couldn't make it easy for them! :D
