The next morning, Esposito awoke to the scent of coffee and toast, and the lack of weight around him in the bed. Sitting up, he looked around and saw all three of his children sitting at Agnes' kitchen table nibbling on toast and drinking juice. All three had their hair brushed and their clothes were fresh, not the ones they'd worn the day before.

'Daddy!' Trini set down her piece of toast, brushed away crumbs from her mouth. 'Mornin' Daddy!'

'Hi Daddy!' Leo added, shoveling in a mouthful of oatmeal.

'Look at you guys, already up and ready to go.'

'Anduh-rea said today we get to go with Nessa and Mallory to the hosuh-pital school!' Tessi, who had already finished eating and was tidying up her place at the table, smiled gently. 'We are going to make cards for Mami and then bring them to her to make her suh-mile.'

'Actually, it's a little bit more complicated, Tessi. Mami can't have visitors until tomorrow.'

'Why not?'

Esposito sighed, went over to sit with his children and look them in the eye. 'Mami had to have an operation last night to make sure she gets better,' he started, and blinked when Trini and Leo simply nodded. 'You guys don't look surprised by that.'

'Tessi say so,' Leo told him, looking to the wisdom of his big sister. ' 'Pation 'cary. Mami bedda now?'

'She is getting better, Leo, but the kind of operation she had means that her immune system, the thing that keeps all the germs out, isn't working so well right now and we all have little germs on our bodies that might make her sick again. So her doctors said that she has to stay away from people for a day or two until her immune system is all better. But there is something we're going to do for her.'

'Whassat?' Trini asked, her eyes hopeful; she wanted to be as much help to her mami as she could, just like her big sister did.

'We are all going to use Mami's computer to record our voices so that the doctors and Daniel can play our get-better-soon messages.'

'Ooo, goo' 'dea, Daddy,' Leo breathed in approval, then looked a little sad. 'She miss us?'

'Oh, of course she does, my main man.' Esposito brushed a hand over his son's head. 'And I bet when she wakes up tomorrow morning and can have visitors, we're going to be the first four people she wants to see.'

'C-c...oh, man!'

'It okay, Tessi,' Trini reassured her sister, sympathetic to her struggle. 'Mami say take time.'

'C..come on everyone, we have things to do for Mami today,' Tessi said, and grinned when Trini held out her bunched up fingertips.

'Feeda birdies, Tessi.'

The sight of his children bonding together, helping and supporting each other like this instead of fighting and squabbling had the flicker of hope in Esposito's heart - the one he'd felt when he'd held Tessi close to him in the chapel the night before - burn a little brighter this morning. That he didn't have to worry about their communication breaking down meant he could take comfort in the security of them getting along and being their own little buddy-network while he looked after other things, like helping Robina deal with the press and getting private security arranged so no more press could get in to take more photos.

After a quick shower and redressing in his clothes from the previous day he found a little bit of mouthwash and swished it around to try and clear the sweat-sock morning-breath taste from his mouth; when he emerged from the bathroom, he saw Agnes there, a blue and white cloth bag in her hands, and in each of his children's hands were a small cloth bag as well.

'Now, remember, the grown-ups are going to be just as scared and confused as you are today, okay? So if they yell, try not to get upset,' she told them, then straightened to her full height when she saw Esposito. 'I hope you don't mind.'

'What is this?'

'Anduh-rea's mami said we all deserve a little something for being so mature while Mami is sick,' Tessi said. 'What does 'mature' mean, Daddy?'

'It's another way of saying 'grown-up', princess.'

'We g'own-up!' Trini patted her brother's shoulder. 'We b'ave fo' Mami, we ma-ture, Daddy.'

'We be goo',' Leo added, not to be outdone by his twin, then walked over to Esposito to thrust out his bag for insepction. 'Agnes nice, Daddy, she say it ours.'

Esposito took the bag, and looked inside. There was a small pack of child-sized playing cards, a pack of crayons, a blank note pad for doodling or games of hangman and tic-tac-toe, and a travel-sized colouring book; for Leo, he had jungle animals.

'That's very nice of you, Agnes,' Esposito said. 'You didn't have to do that.'

'They are good children and haven't been bad once,' Agnes replied smoothly, making Tessi blush as she remembere her transgression the night before with Dell, 'and that deserves a treat.'

'Bu' not all-time,' Trini chipped in. 'Then no' 'pishal.'

'Exactly, not all the time because then it's not special.' She held out the bigger bag to Esposito. 'You get one too, handsome.'

The little boy inside him was thrilled to get a gift, and he opened the bag to see there was a sudoku book, a package of mechanical pencils, an iTunes gift card worth fifty dollars and of course, an economy pack of peanut M&M's - his favourite chocolate snack.

'Agnes, this is too much,' he started but Agnes waved him off.

'The whole reason I came back to New York was to take care of my family, and you are family to Andrea, so you're as good as mine.'

'A'nes, Daddy need yummies,' Leo said, patted his father's stomach like he was Arturo. 'Need gas forda tank.'

'Yes he does. Oh, and Andrea called while you were in the shower, she said to tell you that Alexis and Shane took care of Artie, they are bringing you fresh clothes and Meredeth's laptop to the hospital.'

'Okay.' Why they hadn't just called him directly baffled Esposito momentarily, then made the logical leap they didn't want to wake him or disturb him if he was already at the hospital with the doctors or Meredeth herself. Thinking of her, alone inside four plastic walls, he ignored the rumble in his stomach and glanced at his watch. Almost seven. Damn his kids were early risers today, he thought.

'Agnes, we make have to make whatever it is you want me to eat one for the road, I want to get there so I can talk to Daniel before he changes shifts.'

'Understandable.' Agnes reached into the fridge, pulled out what appeared to be an honest-to-goodness bento box. 'This is for you.'

He looked at the fancy Japanese box, divided into three sections; the first sections had sliced bacon and potatoes, the middle had sliced melon and mixed berry salad, and the third portion sliced bread with light cheese of some kind. 'Wow,' was all he said.

'I've been taking some cooking courses,' she said bashfully, 'and the latest one is on at-home dining presentations. Plus I really like using the bento-boxes Andrea sent me from Tokyo. Don't worry, I know you'll bring it back.'

'Thanks.' Esposito set it on the table and gave her a tight embrace. 'For everything. Okay, troops!'

He watched Tessi, Trini and Leo get in a little line and put their hands to their foreheads in a salute. 'Aye, Daddy,' Tessi said.

'Let's fall out. We leave no Mami behind.'

By the time he dropped the children at the hospital's daycare, Esposito felt slightly more in his mind and body as he went into the lounge and found Alexis and Shane already there with his clothes and Meredeth's laptop.

'Hey, bro, you're looking a lot better,' Shane said enthusiastically.

'Yeah?'

'Yeah, I know that look, you've got a game plan.'

'We're going to record voice messages for Meredeth so while she is out, she can hear us cheering her on to get better,' he explained. 'And then we're all going to pick a song for her and put it on her iPod so she can hear us. You guys are the guinea pigs.'

Alexis looked a little surprised, then intrigued. 'What does she like? Or what did the doctors say was a good idea?'

'It was Daniel's idea actually, and he said soft, soothing, positive. Think romantic night with a lover, think sexy bath-tub, think summer-time at the Hamptons on the beach happy music.'

'Got it.'

Esposito opened Meredeth's laptop, entered under her guest account and found her software; he plugged in the recording headphones and passed them to Alexis. 'Just speak from the heart,' he told her when he saw her hesitate. 'I'll give you a countdown.'

Alexis recorded her message, then passed the device to Shane who added his own get-wells. When they were filed and set-up in the iTunes library, they each picked out a song for Meredeth - from Alexis, Charlie Parker's rendition of 'Summertime' from Porgy and Bess and Shane the guitar-guy went for his favourite Jack Johnson.

'Thanks guys,' Esposito said, pleased he was finally able to do something productive for his wife while she was in crisis where he could only stand aside and let trained-professional others do their medical thing to take care of her. 'How was Arturo?'

'Confused, but thankful someone was home,' Alexis replied, looking ravaged herself. 'You want to hear some good news?'

'You're pregnant again?'

'No,' she laughed. 'No, Shane and I have picked the place where we're going to get married.'

'Hey, that's great.'

'We're having it at Shane's temple, the one he goes to for Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur.' Alexis turned and kissed her fiance's cheek, gave him a devilish grin. 'Not a boat in sight.'

'I have to ask,' Esposito said, very thankful he also had this distraction now, 'what is with the no boats thing?'

'Someone amongst us-' Shane pointed at Alexis '-is afraid of big boats like yachts and cruise ships.'

'I'm not afraid of them, I am appropriately apprehensive,' she retorted with great dignity.

'I think someone's watched Titanic or The Poseidon Adeventure once too often.'

'I have not. Besides, I don't want other guests getting sea-sick.'

Total fraidy-cat, Shane mouthed to Esposito as Alexis produced her beeping cellphone from her purse, and Esposito wisely swallowed the chuckle.

'My parents are here, and so is RJ, he's asking to see Trini,' Alexis informed them, looked up at Esposito. 'She's in the daycare, right?'

'Yeah. We'll work something out, I don't want anyone getting stressed right now, least of all the kids.'

'A daddy through and through.'

'Excuse me, Javier?'

All three looked up, saw Harvey there in his street clothes; it looked so strange to see him in something other than a suit or a pair of well-worn scrubs under his white coat. Over his shoulder was a sports bag and in his hand was a leather briefcase with his patient files. He looked about as knock-down dragged out as Esposito felt, but the detective got to his feet, met Harvey in the hallway.

'How's Meredeth?'

'Good, she had a really good night last night. No dips, no spikes and your baby is one tough little monkey. She's still under sedation but, and I'm not making any promises, we might be able to let you have a cot in her room tonight so you can sleep beside her. She'll still be inside the plastic,' Harvey went on, reading the man's hopeful expression, 'but her progression back to health hasn't slipped yet so...we'll see.'