Thanks to pl3as3-tak3-m3-t0-w0nd3rland once again for the prompt. I may have gotten a bit too excited with the idea xD

It was a cold morning in DC, and Liz needed something to heat up desperately. She opened the doors to the Starbucks and welcomed the warmth of the heater inside. She removed her coat and scarf and went to look at the menu above the counter, as she always did, although she already knew what she wanted. Tall Cappuccino with double shot of coffee and cinnamon, as she always ordered. She told the barista her order and indulged herself on a blueberry muffin, and after paying, went to sit on one of the tables available.

The place was crowded, but not exactly uncomfortable. Many people were just passing buy for their morning coffee, and as soon as they took their cup, they left. Some people just liked the atmosphere of the place and spent hours there with their mac books, and some tourists were there looking for something warm and free wi-fi. They called her name and she stood up to pick up her order. When she sat down again, sipping on her hot beverage and taking small bites of the muffin, she observed the people around.

On the background, Christmas songs were playing, saying that although it's still November, Christmas is near. She remembered she needs to buy Christmas decorations and a tree for the new house.

"Look, mommy." the high-pitched voice of a little girl called Liz's attention, and she looked around to find its origin. It was from a family sitting on the couches next to her. There was a mom, and two kids, an older boy and a little girl, who was sitting on the carpet, using the small coffee table to draw pictures on a notebook. "I draw you an elephant"

"That's beautiful, sweetie!" the mom leaned to look at the girl's drawings, and she smiled to her daughter as she sat back and took a sip from her coffee. A few minutes later, a dad appeared, carrying sandwiches and his own coffee.

"c'mon, kiddo, let daddy use the table now, ok?" he asked the girl to clean her crayons so he could put the food on the table, and the girl pouted while collecting her things.

Liz couldn't stop watching that family having a nice breakfast together, laughing and being cute. The boy had his nose on his cellphone, but his mom tapped it slightly to call his attention to the food. He locked the screen and put it in his pocket, before fighting with his sister for the bacon/egg/gouda.

"Hey, that's mine"

"No, mommy, I want this!"

"Here, there's two of those, stop whinning, Lucy. Be kind to your sister, Ben."

Ben patted the top of Lucy's head while taking a bite of his sandwich, and the girl opened a wide smile to her brother.

Liz felt empty. All she ever wanted was something like this. A family, a real life. When she became a "hunted terrorist", that all came crumbling down. She had already lost faith she would ever have that dream when she found out about Tom, so when she had to become a fugitive, she shoved it aside, as a long lost impossible dream.

Now, it was all different. She wasn't on the run anymore. She was in a good relationship with a man she loved. She smiled alone while picturing Donald's kids. They would have ginger hair and freckles, bright eyes and tiny hands. They would have her hands. And her eyes.

They had never talked about it. Not seriously. When looking for the house, Don emphasized that he wanted a big enough house, with at least 1 extra room. And now these rooms where empty in their home. They talked about making a home office, or a home gym, but nothing never started off the plans. She wondered how he would react if she wanted to make it a nursery.

He tapped her shoulder and she was slightly scared.

"Sorry, baby. Didn't mean to startle you" he smiled, and bent town to kiss her.

"It's okay. I was distracted."

"What distracted you?" and she turned to look at the family. Now the mom was looking at the girl's drawings as the dad and Ben had their phones out again. Ressler understood immediately.

"Do you want one?" he said, causing her to turn her head surprised.

"What?"

"A kid. Do you want one?"

She smiled, blushing a little. He was being too straightforward.

"OH, well. Maybe, one day. I don't know. Before it was definitely part of my plans, it was my dream. But now…"

"now what?"

"now people out there sees me as a terrorist. I spent months running from the FBI and the CIA with a known criminal, doing things. How am I supposed to explain this to my children? Do I even deserve to be a mother after all this?"

He took her hands on his, still wearing gloves. the leather felt cold, but she could feel the warmth of his hand inside it. She was trying hard not to cry.

"Liz, stop it. You are not a terrorist. Never have been. There's no reason to fear that your kids you find out about it. and if they do, you just tell them the truth. What happened happened because you were set up, and you had to run away from very bad and dangerous everything is fine, and then you were cleared of the accusations, because they were a lie;"

She chuckled. "I was running from you".

"Well, running from bad and dangerous people, and a very handsome cop, too" he shook his head back, posing, and she had to hide her mouth on her arm to not laugh too loud. She knew he was right, it had been all a set up, but still… There were footage of her pursuit online, newspaper articles mentioning her as a terrorist. Could she ever be at peace taking her kids to the park, for example? People still stopped her on the streets to ask if she was the terrorist on the news. Once, a man screamed at the top of his lungs for the police when she was having sushi with Aram and Samar. They stood up for her, but it was hard to take.

"I guess when this entire terrorist thing fades away" she said it, but she didn't believe it. in her mind, she would have to live with her image as an FBI most wanted forever. He, on the other hand, knew it was soon going to disappear.

"It is already fading, Liz. Believe it." he comforted her, and she felt better. "Besides, imagine how cool it would be for our kids to have a criminal as their uncle?"

She laughed out loud picturing Red as part of the family. He would be the worst influence ever on a kid. But she would trust that Dembe would protect them from his bad ideas. Then, she noticed Donald used the pronoun "our".

Do you ever think about it?" If he was going to be straightforward, she was going to be straightforward.

"Sometimes, I think. I confess the thought of having kids once scared the hell out of me. Now, I'm not so sure if it's scared, or just… nervous, I guess. Concerned…" "Concerned?"

"Yeah, like, would I do a good job? Would I be a good father? That kind of thing. How could I know I'm doing it right?"

"I think you never can, until you do it, babe."

"Yeah" he looked at her, his eyes sparkling, and that eased her heart. He was happy to talk about it. "I'm gonna get some coffee" he stood up and placed a kiss on her forehead before moving to the counter.

She now turned to observe him. He had a long and heavy wool coat over his suit, and she thought that was very sexy. His hair was combed back, gelled and contrasted the blue of the coat. He had a nice smile while he ordered his drink, and when he looked back at her while he waited, her stomach flipped. Oh, God. Is this the father of my children?

Once, with Tom, she had decided to adopt. Because of her own upbringing, she believed that the right thing to do was to help kids that were going through situations like those that she did or even worse, before thinking about bringing kids of her own to the world. She still thought that, and adopting was definitely part of her plans, but right now, she dreamed about having her own. Maybe the ginger kids from her early daydream had already gotten her heart, and she wanted them, so much. Maybe Donald made her feel something Tom never did, the wish to have his kids.

But then again, she wondered if it was too soon to start talking about kids. Yes, they did live together, but having kids envolved a lot more. Would he want to get married first? Oh, dear, marriage. Would they ever get to that conversation? It was too soon, they had been a couple for 10 months, but hey, maybe it wasn't too soon. It had been almost a year. She had so many insecurities.

He came back with his drink, and laughed as she barely noticed he was back, concentrated on her cup. He startled her again.

"Jesus, what's on your mind, Keen?"

"Sorry. I got distracted again."

"Exactly. Why are you so distracted?"

"Do you ever think about marriage?" she blurted it out, and then closed her eyes, regretting it. She didn't know if he ever wanted to talk about it, and did not want to seem like she was pressuring him. She was happier than ever and if he wanted to keep it this way, so be it. she was ok.

"Marriage, Liz? I…" Donald stammered a bit, circling his finger on the opening in the lid of his coffee, and she was sure he was uncomfortable.

"Nevermind. Forget I asked. I'm okay, really".

"Hey!" he said, firmly. "You caught me by surprise, here. Give me a minute." She took a deep breath, still looking concerned.

"Now, Keen, if I ever think about marriage. Let me see. I only ever considered marriage once in my life, and it was in a pathetic way. It was right after Audrey died, and I found a pregnancy test among her things."

Liz was in shock. He had never told her this story, and she had no idea Audrey was pregnant when she died. She stayed in silence, fearing she would say something wrong.

"And the truth was that I never knew if I thought that because I found the test, or because she was dead. I wonder now if I would have thought about it if she was alive and/or not pregnant. What makes me doubt my own intentions when wanting to marry her. Did I want to marry her because she was pregnant? Or did I consider marriage because now she was dead and I couldn't do anything about that? So I forgot about it. I never thought of myself as a marrying kind."

"Don…I… I'm sorry. Hey, let's not." He interrupted her with his hand, and then continued.

"As we bring things to today, I don't know. I feel this desperate need to be with you and have you with me and yes, I still fear you will leave me one day because you're bored."

"C'mon, Donald!"

"It's true. So if I ever think about marriage. Liz, of course I do. Let's face it, we already live like a married couple, and we've been bickering and fighting like a married couple for years now. Every time I walk past a jewelry store I look at the rings and imagine them on your finger, but then I never walk in and buy one because I think it's too soon, and I might scare you off."

Liz had a big smile on her face, and tears in her eyes. Goddammit Donald Ressler, give me a ring now!

"I do think people would freak out if we just showed up engaged."

"Yeah."

She stood up and went closer to him, kissing his cheek and sitting on his knee. "You know what? You keep on looking at those rings, and when you find the right one, no matter if in 10 minutes or in 10 years, you buy it for me, deal? I'll keep this finger empty for you." she removed the ring she was wearing on the finger and put it on her pocket. From now on, that finger would only wear his ring.

"Now, about kids. I wouldn't mind if we started trying to make one" he said, jokingly, biting her arm lightly over her coat.

"Oh, well, the making is quite interesting, right?" she laughed.

"Why don't we give it to chance, just like the ring? You stop with the pills, and if it comes, it comes."

"are you crazy? No!" she sat back on her chair, and looked stunned with his idea. "we need to plan it, organize everything, we can't do it by chance!"

"It's not like the baby comes in a week, Liz"

"You have no idea how little 9 months is as time to prepare for a kid. No way, we are planning this."

"Ok, then. Is it okay if I find the ring, first? Then we start talking about the next step?"

She nodded. "Ok, then. So, do you want to take a look at that jewelry store now?" she smiled, in a not-so-joke joke, and he laughed out loud.

They stood up, wore back their coats and scarves and gloves, and he put his arm around her as they move to the door, going back to the cold air.

He sighed, thinking about the little box he had in his inside pocket, for about a week now.