+I don't own any CSI: NY characters. But the rest is mine. I really hope you enjoy reading this.+
Two weeks later Don was in the car with Danny, heading back to the lab from a crime scene in the Upper East Side. By this time Danny and everyone else knew all about Katie and what had happened. They had even all pulled money together for Stella to get the little girl some clothes and toys. Don and Hannah had been very grateful.
"God, this traffic is crazy," Don commented and sighed heavily.
"You in a big hurry?"
"Yeah, I wanna get home."
"Something special going on?"
Don looked at his best friend. "No, I just wanna see my girls that's all." Don leaned his head back and chuckled. "That's sounds so lame."
Danny smirked. "Yeah it does. No, it's a good thing man. It's always good to have something to go home to."
They talked for a while longer as they drove to the lab. When they got there, they headed to the fourth floor and talked with Mac for a couple minutes about the case. Then Don was free to go home. He headed back across town in the same traffic. He had become more and more anxious to get home every day since Katie had arrived. She had changed him, just like Hannah said she would. He had noticed Hannah growing more and more attached to his daughter as well.
"I'm home," he called out as he entered the apartment.
"In here," he heard and headed to the bathroom. Hannah was sitting on the floor next to the bathtub and Katie was sitting in the water covered in bubbles.
"Hey, how are my girls?" he kissed Hannah on the lips then the top of Katie's head.
"Daddy," Katie squealed as he sat on the toilet.
"Yeah, that's Daddy," Hannah added. "Tell him what we did today."
"Went to the park." Katie played with the dolls she had in her hands.
"Who went with us to the park?"
"Gampa Don and Gamma Karen. Daddy we saw squirrel."
"You did?" he replied.
"Yeah, and Mama Hannah fed him. But Gampa Don told her not to."
Hannah and Don laughed then he looked at Hannah. "Mama Hannah?"
"Yeah, I guess she made it up."
"When did that happen?"
"Yesterday she just said it while you were at work." Hannah grabbed the towel for Katie and stood. "Katie, you ready to get out?"
"Yeah, I hungry." Katie stood in the tub and reached her hands out to Hannah who wrapped her in the towel and pulled her out of the tub.
"What is for dinner?" Don asked and followed Hannah and Katie to the bedroom.
"I made soup. Will you get it ready while I get some clothes on her?"
"Yeah," he responded and went to the kitchen. He dished out the soup for each of them and set the bowls on the table. He was getting each of them something to drink when Katie came running to the table with her hair still in a tangled mess.
"Katie, I said get back in here," Hannah called out to her then came out with the brush in hand.
"No brush hair," Katie told her and hid behind Don's legs.
"Katie, come on. I'm not gonna tell you again."
"Here," Don took the brush from Hannah. "I'll do it." He turned and looked down at Katie. "Come on, Baby let's go brush your hair."
"No, Daddy."
"Do you wanna eat dinner with us?"
"Yeah."
"Then we have to brush your hair." Katie finally followed him to the living room.
Hannah sighed. "That's just not fair."
"I'm her dad; what do you expect?" Don replied.
Hannah got the rest of the meal ready and took everything to the table. She sat in her designated chair and watched Don sit on the couch brushing Katie's hair. "I saw Mrs. Kaplan in the hallway today and she just asking how we were doing all living in this small apartment. I told her we were doing alright and then she tells me the apartment across the hall, you know the two-bedroom one, is up for lease. So, I was thinking maybe we should talk to the super and see if we can get it. What do you think?"
"Well, what do you wanna do?"
"Uh, I was thinking it might be a good idea. We need the space that's for sure. I mean when you get a late night call from work it wakes me up and I can go back to sleep but Katie stays up for a while and then she wants to get in bed with me."
"Ok, yeah I see your point. You already talked to the super didn't you?"
He looked back at her and Hannah smiled. "Yeah, I did. The rent's not bad. I did a budget for us and we can afford it. Plus," she paused and Katie and Don came over to the table. "I was talking with my editor today. Do you remember the story I was writing when we first met? Well, I sent it into a publisher who my editor recommended and she said it looks promising."
"You might get a book published?"
She smiled. "Yeah, and if I do then I'll just do stories every once in a while for the Times. But I'll make good money from the book."
Don didn't reply; he smiled and moved his spoon around in his soup. Then he looked at Katie as she tried to spoon the soup into her mouth.
"So, what do you think?" Hannah asked him.
He looked at her. "Alright, Hannah let's get the apartment."
A huge smiled spread across her face then she got up and sat on his lap. She kissed him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm so excited."
"I can tell. I can't believe you're gonna get a book published that's great."
"I know."
"Daddy," Katie interjected.
Don looked around Hannah at his daughter. "Yeah, baby?"
"Dats mommy."
Don and Hannah locked eyes. "Yeah, that's mommy," he said and kissed Hannah.
