Nick glanced at his watch before he unlocked the door, it was after midnight and he tried to be quiet as he walked into the house. The lights were off but he could see Frannie asleep in her spot. Nick locked the door behind him and left his bag by the door.

He's been gone for two days, usually his job didn't require him to travel but once in a while he had a conference or a case that forced him to spend some time away from home. Nick was content with his job at the DEA, he did a lot of background work, research for the agents in the field, his time working undercover was very helpful and Nick knew he was appreciated.

He stepped into his son's room, careful not to step on any of the toys that were scattered on the floor. Ethan was asleep and Nick smiled, he loved how calm Ethan looked, his features so soft. He just wanted to keep him safe and happy, didn't want him to know about all of the grief that's out there, if only Ethan could stay clueless about it as long as possible...

Nick grabbed the blanket and covered the boy. Ethan stirred a little and Nick hoped he wouldn't wake up, even though he wouldn't mind getting a hug and a kiss from his son. Nick stayed there a few more minutes and walked to the bedroom. Amanda was also asleep, lying on his side of the bed. She always did that when he had to sleep somewhere else. Nick wasn't even sure it was conscious, but he loved that she did, it showed how much she missed him.

She was wearing a black tank top, the right strap slipping off her shoulder. He could stare at her for a long time, he missed her too. He wanted desperately to kiss the bare shoulder, feel her skin. Sometimes it seemed to him that they've been together forever and sometimes it felt like they'd just met, that everything was new. It was a mixture of excitement and familiarity between them. He loved her and felt like he belonged with her, she was a part of him.

Nick gave in and allowed his lips to touch her, kissing the shoulder as softly as he could. Not that the effort mattered, he knew she'd wake up from the gesture.

"Mmmm..." she moved a bit and her eyes fluttered open "Nick" she muttered upon seeing him.

"Hey" he leaned forward to kiss her lips "sorry I woke you up"

"No you're not" she smiled, closing her eyes.

"Only a bit" Nick kissed her again.

"Get to bed babe" she said.

"I'm gonna take a shower, ok?" she nodded and he walked to the bathroom.

Nick showered quickly and put on a clean pair of boxers and a shirt. Amanda moved to the other side of the bed and he climbed in beside her.

"How was the conference?" she looked at him.

"Fine" he smiled, they tried not to talk about work in bed so he decided to change the subject "what did you do without me?"

"Exactly what I do when you're here, just alone"

"Oh..." he teased and moved closer to her.

"You have a dirty mind Nick" she chuckled and he winked "but I did miss you, a little"

"Only a little?" he caressed her cheek "I'm offended"

Amanda rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, she was glad he was back home, weird how things were different with him being away for just two days. They spoke on the phone, skyped one evening with Ethan. Long hours were the nature of their professions. Still, the moment they were together it was as if the pace changed, things were calmer, better. Work remained at work and they focused on one another, on their son, on Zara and Gil.

"I'm glad you're back" she whispered.

"Good to be back" He pulled Amanda closer and felt her falling asleep in his arms.


"Shame you have to work today" Nick leaned on the fridge.

"I know, but I'll spend tomorrow with you, you'll have fun without me" Amanda smiled at him. It was Saturday and Gil and Zara were spending the weekend with them. Nick made plans to take the them to a ranch, it seemed like a nice place and he knew the older kids will enjoy riding horses and there were ponies for Ethan.

"Want some orange juice?" Nick looked inside the fridge.

"No thanks, we're almost out, leave it for Ethan" Amanda made herself coffee.

As if on cue, the little boy stepped into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes a little. He was dressed in his pajamas, his dark hair was ruffled.

"Look who's up" Nick looked at him and the boy smiled happily and ran to his father.

"Daddy" he hugged him "I miss you!"

"I'm here kid, I missed you too" Nick gave him a couple of kisses and Ethan giggled.

"We saw you in the computer" he said.

"I saw you on my phone" Nick gave him another kiss, he looked so adorable, just woken up but smiling from ear to ear and those cute dimples of his "go give mom a kiss" Nick lowered him on the floor and Ethan walked to his mother greeting her with a good morning.

"I'm hungry mommy"

"Sit down, daddy will make you breakfast" she placed him in his seat.

"Daddy where did you go?"

"I had to work" Nick glanced at him "I had to fly to Texas"

"On a plane?" Ethan sounded excited.

"Yes"

"I want to go on a plane!" he said.

"You will, soon" they were flying to Sonya's wedding in Miami soon but didn't tell Ethan about it yet, or else he wouldn't stop asking about it.

"Tomorrow?" Ethan looked at Amanda and she smiled.

"Not so soon" Nick placed the food on the plate and poured the remains of the juice in a cup "there you go"

"Thank you" Ethan said and Nick sat down next to Amanda.

"I forgot to tell you" she turned to him "I got a call from Fin yesterday, he's coming for a visit"

"Really?" Nick's eyes widened "what brings him here?"

"Remember the case they had, it was all over the news a few months ago" Nick nodded and she continued "apparently they've been asked to speak about it and he got LA"

"It would be great to see him, he's gonna have time to come by?"

"He's gonna have to make time" she smiled, even though she liked the other detectives in her squad, she knew there would never be a partner like Fin.

"Great" Nick kissed her and took the empty cup of coffee in front of her "buddy" he turned to Ethan who was done with his food and was playing with his fork "today Zara and Gil are coming over and we will drive to see horses"

"Horses?" Ethan's eyes widened in excitement and he dropped the fork on the plate.

"Sounds like fun?"

"I wanna go now!" Ethan exclaimed and Amanda chuckled.

"First you have to wait for your brother and sister" she picked him up "and we need to wash this face, right?"

"But I don't want the horse to eat me, ok mommy?" Nick heard her promise him that it won't happen as they walked to his bathroom.

Not too much later Amanda said goodbye to Nick, Ethan and Frannie. The boys took the dog for a walk.

Gil took the bus to LA and Maria was supposed to drop Zara off. She texted him they were on the way and Ethan was so excited to see his big sister he wanted to wait outside.

"No" he shook his head as a car drove by without stopping. They were sitting on the steps, Frannie was following Ethan as he jumped up and down. He stopped whenever he heard a car and hoped it would be Zara. Finally Nick recognized the car and told Ethan to look. He did hold his hand until the car stopped and Zara stepped out to the sidewalk.

"Ethan" she waved at him and Nick allowed him to ran to her she kneeled down and gave him a big hug "how are you?" she smiled.

"I want...daddy...a horse" he was too excited to make a full sentence but since Zara was already aware of the plan she nodded.

"Yep, we're going to see horses" she nodded.

"Yep" he beamed at Zara.

"Bye mom" she waved and Ethan waved too.

Maria took out Zara's bag from the car and Nick walked to her, stopping by his daughter so he could give her a kiss "you can go inside" he said and Ethan held on to her hand as they walked into the house, followed by Frannie.

"He's adorable" Maria handed the bag to Nick. When he moved to LA they made an effort to be ok with each other, they weren't friends but they did their best not to argue as much for Zara's sake. They had disagreements but tried to solve them without yelling. Now that Zara was older she made some of the decisions. Maria was happy for Nick when he told her he was going to have another child. She knew he was living with Amanda soon after it happened, it was a surprise but it wasn't really her business, Zara liked her so she wasn't going to say anything, whatever she had with Nick was long gone.

They picked Gil up on the way to the ranch, he got a heartwarming hello from Ethan too and he sat down next to him.

"Are you excited to see the horses?" Gil asked.

"Yes, I love horses!" Nick smiled, Ethan wasn't too familiar with horses, but he had a tendency to love things he was excited about.

"How's school?" Nick asked Gil.

"It's good, we have a big debate competition in two weeks, I'm going to participate, can you come?"

"Sure, I'll do my best" Nick peeked at him through the rearview window.

"Me too!" Ethan said, Nick has never driven with him to San Diego, it could be too hard for the boy.

They reached the ranch and Nick parked the car, giving Gil a proper hug and letting Ethan out of his seat. He picked him up and gave him a kiss.

The walked to the horses and Nick lowered him to the ground, holding his hand "let's go pet the horse" he said but Ethan stayed planted, staring at the animals.

"Dad" he almost whispered and Nick kneeled down "I'm scared" he said quietly.

"It's ok" Nick caressed the top of his head "they are good, they won't hurt you"

"You don't have to be scared" Gil smiled and extended his hand to Ethan "I'll go with you, ok?"

"Me too" Zara gave him a kiss and held on to the other hand.

Ethan walked with his older siblings towards the horses and Nick followed behind, proud of the fact Gil and Zara were so affectionate towards their little brother.

He took a picture with his phone, Ethan was holding on to Gil and Zara's hands, looking up at Gil, he told him something about horses. When they reached one of the horses Gil petted him first and picked Ethan up so he could pet the horse too. The boy was hesitant but Zara offered to do it with him and once he realized he wasn't going to be eaten by anyone or anything he got more excited and even gladly fed the horse.

After a while Nick wanted to give Zara and Gil sometime to ride the horses, Ethan was too young for the big ones so they watched and cheered. Ethan got to ride a pony and was very happy about it, petting his head talking to him.

They played around for a while before it was time to go back home "ready to go?" Nick looked at the boy.

"But we need to take the horsie!" Ethan said.

"We can't take him, he lives here" Nick took Ethan's hand and was about to walk to the car.

"But I want him to live with me, I love him" he insisted.

"I know you do" Nick saw the disappointed look on his son's face "but we can't take him with us"

"But..." the frown turned into sobs "but I'm sad!" he started crying.

Ethan's tears always caught Nick off guard, he was usually so happy, even as a baby he didn't cry a lot, unlike Zara, who was never content when she was a baby, they had to work hard to find the right temperature for her, the right clothes . She outgrew of that stage, thankfully.

"I know you're sad" Nick gave him a kiss but it didn't calm the boy.

"You know" Gil sat down next to his brother "this is the horse's home, his friends are here, he's going to be sad if he has to leave, you don't want him to be sad, right?"

Ethan shook his head but kept on sobbing.

"You want him to be happy, right?"

Ethan nodded and Zara joined in the conversation "maybe dad could buy you a toy horse, he's gonna be happy to live with you" she offered.

"Yes" Ethan wiped the tears "I want a toy please, thank you"

Nick had no choice but to take the kids to the gift shop and let Ethan pick a stuffed horse, Ethan wanted a cowboy hat and he gave in, buying him both.

They were back in the car, Ethan holding the toy, petting it once in a while and showing it off to Zara, who was now sitting next to him in the back seat. The hat was a little too big and fell over his eyes, but he was too excited to take it off.

Nick made lunch and Ethan refused to part with the horse "horsie wants food too" he told Nick.

"What can I make for him?"

"Carrot" the boy said and Nick was glad they had one left.

"Hey guys" Amanda walked in the house and tried to keep a straight face seeing her son with the cowboy hat "who are you mister?" she walked over to him.

"It's me mommy" he looked up and smiled "this is horsie"

"Hey horsie" Amanda planted a kiss on Ethan's cheek and walked to greet Gil and Zara "how was it?" she asked.

"So much fun" Zara replied "Gil and I rode the horses"

"It was awesome, you should have gone with us" Gil said.

"I wish I could, but I'm here now and we can go to the park, play baseball tomorrow"

"Cool" Zara smiled.

Nick put Ethan down for a nap, he agreed to take off the hat and hugged the horse. Gil wanted to show Zara something on his phone, giving Nick and Amanda a few moments alone.

"How did it go?" she asked after a few kisses. Nick showed her the few pictures he took.

"Then he started crying because he wanted to take the horse with us"

"Seriously?" she chuckled, imagining her son crying because he didn't get a horse.

"He was all 'I'm sad'" Nick tried to imitate Ethan.

"Ohh..." she smiled "at least he got a toy from it"

"And a hat"

"You're such a softy" she wrapped her arms around him "but I still love you"