A/N: Just wanted to thank you all for the support you've given me so far. :)
There was no greater Christmas present, Danny thought, as he watched Lindsay's eyes flutter open, than awaking to the feel of Lindsay's soft body pressed against his own. He continued twirling a lock of her hair in his hand, threading it through his fingers. He smiled up at the ceiling, simply enjoying the areas of his body that she was pressed to. Her leg was thrown over his, pressed neatly to the entire inside length of his limb. Her stomach was tucked into his side, and her head was resting neatly on his shoulder, one arm around his chest. She was a cuddly sleeper. She always had been. It made him wonder how she slept when she was alone – did she hug the pillows? Curl up into a ball in the blankets?
As she slowly woke, her fingers moved lightly across his chest, tapping involuntarily as her muscles shook off sleep. He smiled and glanced down at her. He could see the skin at the top of her shoulder goose-bumping, so he reached down to around his waist, where the blankets had collected, and pulled them up over her shoulders. She muttered something unintelligible and moved against him, giving a light shiver at the change in temperature.
Her eyes opened fully, and she looked up at him. Confusion marred her features, quickly replaced by a soft, gentle satisfaction. She closed her eyes again and wiggled impossibly closer to him. He squeezed her into a hug and nuzzled into her hair. "Merry Christmas," he whispered.
She smiled and trailed a finger up and down his chest lazily. "Merry Christmas," she sighed happily.
A soft whimper came from the baby monitor sitting on Lindsay's bedside table. Lindsay looked over at it, and groaned as she hugged Danny's torso. "No," she moaned as the whimper turned into a cry.
Danny chuckled softly and bent in closer to her. "I got it," he said softly, a hint of laughter in his tone. He paused, reveling in the warmth of her body, before sliding out of bed and snatching up his boxers from the floor. He tugged them on, then his tank top, and headed into Celia's room.
He returned a few minutes later, holding Celia in his arms, and sat down on the bed. "Hey, there's no milk in the fridge," he said, running a hand through Lindsay's hair. "Should I give her some of that formula crap, or –"
"No, I'll breastfeed," Lindsay said, and wiggled her way up into a sitting position, the blanket slipping down to her waist. She held out her arms for Celia and carefully held the baby to her chest. Celia latched on quickly.
Danny watched for a minute, smiling softly, until Lindsay shivered and he tugged the blanket up and crawled around behind her, pressing his warm body to her back. He hugged her from behind, his arms on her naked stomach, and supported Celia on Lindsay's chest.
She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, watching Celia nurse. She trailed a finger down Celia's cheek and watched her daughter's eyes move about. "Danny?" she asked softly.
"Huh?" he asked, squeezing Lindsay to his body.
"What are we going to do?" Her voice was curious, yet a bit timid.
"I don't know. I was thinkin' we could take her to my ma's later tonight, 'cause she wants to see her, but this morning I thought we'd just stay –"
"Not now. I mean … what did last night mean?" she asked, turning her head up to look at him.
He pursed his lips, watching her, then spoke slowly. "It means … that we're going to move forwards. That we're going to make new rules, and we're going to try something new."
"But what?" Lindsay asked worriedly, "What does that mean?"
He grinned at her. "I don't know yet," he said, "But that's why we're doing this. We're going to figure it out." He tilted his head towards hers and softly kissed her, hugging her tightly to his chest. "Just stay with me, OK? Don't go anywhere. We're gonna figure this out."
She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder again. "I think she's done," she said softly, lifting Celia up higher. Celia snuffled.
"I'll burp her and put her back in the crib," Danny offered, taking Celia, "I gotta get back to my place and get ready for work anyways." He kissed Lindsay one more time and carried Celia out of the room.
Lindsay watched him go, admiring his defined back muscles through the tank top, contrasted with Celia's round, bright face peeking over his shoulder. She slowly got out of bed and pulled on some underwear and her heavy, unflattering nursing bra. She hated the thing, but it was incredibly convenient. She particularly hated how hideous it looked. When she'd bought it, appearance had meant nothing to her. She'd gone on several wild, quick, hectic trips to maternity stores during her pregnancy, in which she'd grabbed whatever was cheapest and most comfortable. What she remembered most was the sheer awkwardness of it all – shuffling out of a building with an ever-growing belly and too many bags, watching the carefree couples walk hand-in-hand around her.
Danny came back into the room and scooped up his shirt from the floor. He walked over to Lindsay with a wide grin on his face and pulled her close to him, kissing her softly. She felt the warm skin of his abs on her stomach, and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"You have to go to work," she reminded him, grinning. He shook his head and kissed her again.
"I'll call in sick," he smiled.
"You can't," she reminded him in between kisses, "Half the team's out today."
Danny ignored her and bent down. He easily picked her up, hoisting her up around his waist and clutching at her thighs as he turned around to the bed and dropped her.
She landed with a short, surprised laugh and looked up at him. He admired her for a moment. She felt his gaze burning her body, and instinctively covered her stomach with her arms, suddenly shy.
"What?" he asked, crawling onto the bed on top of her. He pulled her arms away and kissed her lazily, enjoying how familiar it had become. He pulled back and looked her up and down again, amazed that she was with him and not someone who she deserved, someone perfect. He trailed a hand over her stomach, up to her chest.
She winced slightly and looked up at him worriedly.
"What?" he asked for the second time.
"Nothing," she murmured, and wrapped her arms around his biceps, pulling him closer to her. He broke the kiss.
"Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly, "Does your stomach hurt?"
She shook her head and feebly tried to get him to kiss her again. He shook his head with a smirk. "Nuh-uh. First you tell me if your stomach hurts you."
"It doesn't hurt."
"Then what's the matter, baby?" he asked, kissing her softly.
She momentarily lost herself in the kiss, in the sultry, teasing motions of his tongue on hers and his gentle lips. She gave a brief gasp when he pulled away and watched her again. "You embarrassed?" he asked, bringing his hand to rest on her flat stomach.
She shoved his hand off instinctively.
He put it back, raising one eyebrow at her.
She tried to shove it off again, but he held it there and smacked a kiss to her lips. He nudged her knees a little further apart and helped her move further up on the bed before wiggling his way in between her legs and sitting up on his heels, looking down at her.
She scrunched up her nose and tried to wiggle out of the grip he was holding her in. "I still have to lose some baby weight," she said sheepishly.
"No, you don't," he said, smirking, and kissed his way down to her stomach, which was perfectly smooth and flat. He lingered there, mouthing the flesh just above her underwear before slowly, teasingly pulling it down.
Lindsay tried to gather up the willpower to remind him that he was going to be late for work if he didn't hurry, and that he had no time for any fooling around, but she soon lost the ability to form any words as his tongue worked her effortlessly into an orgasm.
That night, Danny was immensely happy. He smiled, remembering the evening – a Christmas dinner with his mother, Lindsay, Celia, and his grandmother. Four women and Danny. Well, three women and one baby girl. But who was counting. Granted, there had been some unfortunate moments, one of which included his Nonna attempting to beat the television after realizing that her favorite soaps were not going to be playing. But the food had been fantastic, and Celia had crawled again. He also couldn't believe his luck at the impromptu make-out session he'd had with Lindsay later, against her refrigerator, his hand pressed on the cold plastic of the fridge, his body pressing close to her warm skin.
The ride he'd given her back to her place wasn't half bad either – his thigh was still burning from the feel of her hand, placed there for the duration of the ride.
He took off his shirt, jeans, and boxers before pulling on some sweatpants. He was about to collapse in his bed before he heard his buzzer. He groaned and considered leaving the phone to ring. Finally, he dragged himself off of the bed and picked up the phone.
"What?" he grunted.
"Let us up!" Lindsay giggled through the intercom.
Danny was immediately awake. "What the hell are you doing down there?" he asked, standing up off of the bed, his foot catching on his discarded jeans on the floor.
"We missed you," Lindsay said, and Celia offered up a loud "A-goo!" to back up Lindsay's statement.
Danny hit the button to open the door for her and snagged his keys from the counter before heading out of his apartment. He met her halfway down the stairs, seeing her with snow melting in her brown hair and Celia, in a heavy baby parka, set on her hip. Lindsay looked up the flight of stairs to see him frowning down at her in his bare chest and bare feet.
She laughed. "You can't put on a shirt?"
"You can't call ahead of time?" he snorted, quickly padding down the cold stairs to her.
She kissed him softly, and he momentarily forgot his anger for her soft lips and her gentle hand on the side of his cheek.
She broke the kiss and smiled at him cheerfully.
He frowned and took Celia from her arms. He slid the baby bag off of her shoulder and slung it over his own before leading her up the stairs to his apartment. "Please tell me you guys took a cab."
She gulped. "OK, we took a cab," she lied.
"You're not just saying that?"
She sighed, "OK, I'm just saying that."
"Lindsay!" he groaned.
"It was one train! One single train! And there was practically nobody on it, and I wanted to see you again," she finished softly, rubbing his arm. He draped his arm around her and nudged open the door to his apartment with his foot.
"You want to see me, I'll come pick you up. Or I'll just come over there. None of this midnight subway ride thing. You coulda gotten hurt."
"Danny, it's Christmas night, who would –"
Danny held up his hand. "For Chrissake, Lindsay, if you are honestly going to say, after all your years as a CSI, that someone wouldn't attack you because it's Christmas, then you can just –"
Lindsay pouted at him and took Celia from his arms. "Did you paint her room yet?" she asked, hoisting Celia up on her hip.
Danny shook his head. "I'll start this weekend," he said, bringing the baby bag into the nursery. He dumped it off and walked back into the kitchen, where Lindsay was busying herself making tea. "So, any particular reason you're here?"
She shook her head with a sly grin, putting the kettle on the stovetop and turning it on. "Do you want me to leave?" she asked.
He shook his head with a smirk and walked behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and under Celia's butt to help hold up the baby.
Celia bounced in Lindsay's arms, reaching up to Danny and making an inquisitive, "Ah?" sound.
Danny kissed her nose, making her giggle loudly. He took her from Lindsay's arms and kissed her ear loudly. She laughed harder, and reached up for his dog tags, her favorite toy. Danny had noticed how much she loved it when he jiggled them around, letting them clink together loudly. She took them from his hands and started to tug on them, playing with the metal objects.
"It's Christmas," Lindsay said, smiling up at Danny, "And I know she wanted to see you."
"Me?" Danny asked, grinning.
"You're her daddy," Lindsay laughed, taking out the tea basket from Danny's cupboard. She pulled out some holiday Chai and ripped open the paper wrapper, setting the teabag in her cup.
"So what compelled you to leave in the middle of the night, when it's snowing outside and everything, to come and see me? Seriously, Linds."
"I came to drop her off, OK?" Lindsay sighed, "I'm exhausted, and she sleeps better when you're around. I'll go home if you want, but –"
"Home? Now?" Danny snorted, gesturing towards the window, visible through the bedroom door, where darkness blanketed the city. "Yeah, right. You're staying here for the night."
Lindsay frowned. "I can go back, if you don't –"
"I want you here," Danny assured her. "I'm gonna put the baby to bed, and then we can hang out, OK?" he suggested.
Lindsay smiled and nodded before turning back to the kettle.
Danny carefully carried Celia into the bedroom at the end of the hall. He reached down into the crib, carefully arranging the new bed sheets he'd bought for her – soft navy blue. He straightened them and got Celia out of the parka she was wearing before carefully laying her down on the blankets. He rubbed her belly and leaned in and kissed her chubby cheek. "Goodnight, gorgeous," he whispered, "I love you."
She grabbed his thumb as he moved away, and he stood above the crib, tethered by her tiny hand. He shook his hand back and forth playfully, testing her grip. She giggled as he made a mock-pained face at her, and watched as her father's eyes crinkle in delight.
"You like that?" Danny laughed, shaking his thumb, feeling her little fingers curl around it tightly. He watched her quietly, grinning each time she tugged harder on his thumb or laughed out loud.
"You gotta go to sleep," he chuckled, bringing his other hand down to stroke her soft brown hair. He brushed it out of her eyes and rested his hand on her head. "You're wearing your mommy out," he informed her, "She's going crazy tryin' to take care of you. Not that she cares," he grinned. "Not that I'd care, if it were me. You're too cute for anyone to care." He sighed and shook his thumb for her once again, causing her to burst out into a wild giggle. "Too perfect," he murmured, "You're perfect. You know that?"
Celia stopped laughing and watched him with wide eyes, her mouth in a round, red circle. She pulled Danny's hand to her mouth and put his thumb in her mouth.
Danny laughed as he watched her and felt her slobbery mouth on his thumb. "That's gross, Celia," he chuckled.
Celia giggled again and kicked her feet up high in the air, until they touched Danny's forearm. He tickled the bottoms of her pajamas and kissed her head again before taking his hand off of her head and gently taking his thumb out of her hand.
Celia looked almost stunned by how easily Danny took his hand away from her grip. "Ah-ga," she said crossly.
Danny grinned and gave a little wave. "Go to sleep, sweetheart, mommy and I will see you in the morning."
Danny moved from kissing Lindsay's neck to kissing her jaw. His eyes flicked up to hers, and found them closed. They were not the tired sort of closed, but rather the fighting-to-stay-open closed.
"Linds," he said quietly.
"Unh," she responded, her arm slipping from his shoulder, down to rest on his chest.
"How about we go to sleep?" he chuckled, finishing his removal of her sweater.
She nodded sheepishly and blushed lightly, her eyes opening a little more. "Sorry," she mumbled, wiping her eyes. She started to take off her sweater, and folded it neatly before looking around for someplace to put it.
Danny took the soft grey sweater out of her grasp and chucked it over to the dresser in the corner of his room. It landed messily, splaying over the top of the piece of furniture. "You fold everything," he laughed, helping her remove the dress shirt she'd been wearing since the dinner at Danny's mother's house.
"I like things to be neat," she muttered, feebly attempting to unbutton her pants.
Danny watched her try and fail to undo the button above her fly, but eventually moved her tired fingers from the button and undid it himself. He wrapped his arm around her waist and helped her step out of the jeans, leaving her in a half-buttoned blouse and light blue, lacy panties. Danny pondered the panties for a moment, regretting, only briefly, the fact that he wasn't going to be able to throw those panties over his shoulder as he …
He shook his head and grabbed a big t-shirt from his dresser, and handed it to her. "Maybe you should start napping with Celia," he suggested jokingly, helping her to take off the blouse and slip on the t-shirt.
Danny almost let out a groan when he saw her milky skin peek out from the top of the cream colored bra she wore. He shook it off yet again and helped her pull on the t-shirt.
"Don't joke about that," she slurred, letting him lead her into the bed. She collapsed on top of the covers, burying her head in the pillow. "I've been known to take a nap before she does," she said sleepily.
Danny chuckled and lifted Lindsay partway off the mattress so he could pull back the covers. He tucked her in before clambering over her and slipping under the covers on the other side of her. "You never call me," he remarked, watching her shiver as she adjusted to the sheets.
"What?" she breathed, throwing an arm back over the pillow to look at him properly.
"When you want help. Call me. If you're tired, I'll watch her, you know that. You shouldn't be this tired all the time," he said, and sat up on one elbow to drop a kiss onto her forehead.
She let out a tired laugh that sounded a lot like a hum. "I don't want to bother you."
"Bother," he said, and cuddled up behind her.
She felt warmed by a new, rejuvenating energy when she felt his arms slip over her waist and lock at her belly button. His head was in back of hers, and she could feel his breath on her shoulder and his waist at her butt. He pulled her closer, and she felt his entire chest against her back. He nudged her knees, bending them forwards so his fit neatly behind hers.
"Night," he said, oblivious to her sudden awareness of their familiarity and closeness.
"Danny?" she asked, her voice soft.
"Yeah?"
"Will you watch her tomorrow after work?"
"Yeah," he chuckled. "You want me to take her here, so you can have your place to yourself?"
She nodded and wiggled a little bit, fitting herself further into his body. "Thanks," she smiled.
"Anytime," he responded, and closed his eyes.
"Do you have children, Detective Messer?" Raymond Friedman asked, his hands shaking slightly. He tapped his finger on the table, traces of blood still evident under the nail although Danny had scraped some away for testing only moments before.
"Yes, I do. A daughter," Danny said, fighting the smile that was begging to appear on his face as he thought of Celia's tiny little hands, slapping on the floor of the kitchen before she crawled for the first time.
"Then you should understand," Raymond said, turning his head to look to the wall of the interrogation room.
"You killed a man," Flack spoke up, straightening off of the wall of the room, "And in this state, that's illegal."
Danny wished it wasn't. He knew, although he would never say anything in the stifling, still air of the interrogation room, that if someone hurt Celia the way someone had hurt Ray Friedman's fifteen year old daughter, he would kill them. Pure and simple.
"You went too far, Ray," Flack said, bending down over the table next to Raymond's thin frame. He slapped the glossy picture of a man lying spread-eagled on the snow, naked, blood melting the ice beneath his body. "You shot him twice, and left him to die in the snow – naked."
Danny felt sick. He knew that they needed a confession – the circumstantial evidence would not hold up in court alone. But he didn't want a confession. He wanted to see Celia. He had to get the image of Ray's daughter out of his mind. He'd sat in on her interview, after the rape had occurred nearly two months ago, as Stella had gently pried the story of her assault from the girl's mind. And then, to find her, two days ago, with an empty pill bottle in her hand and a note fluttering on the floor beside her cold body. She'd had eyes the same blue as Celia.
Suffice it to say, Danny had not been sympathetic to find the man who'd been acquitted of the rape lying naked and dead in the snow that morning.
He blinked back to the present, and watched Flack ask Ray again and again if he was sure he didn't leave his house, and how did a thread from his shirt get on the victim's clothes, and so on, and so on.
"Would you do … this … for your daughter?" Mr. Friedman asked, shoving the glossy photo across the table to where Danny sat. Danny glanced down at the picture, and looked back up at Raymond.
"Yes," he said quietly, no hesitation in his voice.
"Then you understand. Why I did it."
"Are you admitting to the murder of Chester Quinn?" Flack asked, laying one hand flat on the table.
"I am," Raymond said, his eyes never leaving Danny's face.
"Raymond Friedman, you are under arrest for the murder of Chester Quinn. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say, can and will be used against you in a court of law."
As Flack calmly read Raymond his Miranda Rights, Danny and Ray watched each other. As Ray was led out of the room, Danny gave the man a subtle, understanding nod.
"The itsy-bitsy spider went up the water spout," Danny chanted, moving Celia's hands to match the song. He had her on his lap as he sat on his couch, an empty bottle and a burping rag thrown onto the table in front of him.
"Down came the rain and washed the spider out," Danny continued, letting go of her hands to show her the fluttering motions of rain. Celia watched his hands move with her big blue eyes.
"Ag!" she called out, and reached for his hand with an uncoordinated flail. Danny chuckled and brought his hand to hers, letting her curl her fingers around the tip of his index finger.
"I missed you today," Danny told her, resting his free hand on the top of her head of soft brown hair.
"Uh?" Celia said inquisitively, looking up sharply.
Danny laughed and pressed his thumb to her nose.
She giggled and kicked her feet. The motion sent her toppling backwards, and Danny moved his hand to her back to make sure she didn't fall all the way back onto the couch cushion.
"Careful," he said, and moved his hands to the sides of her stomach. He lifted her up into his arms and hugged her before kissing the top of her head. "You're getting so big," he said, patting her back. She grabbed the collar of his t-shirt and tried to stuff it in her mouth before spotting his dog tags. She squealed excitedly and reached for the glittering chain.
Danny glanced over at the clock and his eyes widened. "We gotta get you back to mommy, Celia," he said, standing up from the couch. He brought her to her bedroom, and found her tiny, thick green sleeper and carefully pulled it onto her. He made sure her arms and legs were in the right holes and lifted her up.
He was nearly an hour late in getting back to Lindsay's place already, and he hadn't left his own apartment yet. A sharp panic hit him as he wondered why she hadn't called.
He hurriedly scooped up his leather jacket and pulled it on before scooping up the baby bag and Celia's plastic baby carrier. He strapped her in and headed out of his apartment, locking it tightly behind him.
"Linds?" Danny bellowed, stepping into the apartment. He shut the door behind him, holding Celia's baby carrier with one hand, and holding it slightly behind him, unaware of what was going on in the apartment. "Linds, where are you?"
He walked through the apartment, mentally running through everything to see if it was out of order. He glanced at the light seeping from under the door of the bathroom, and slowly, warily pushed the door open. He glanced inside, and found Lindsay lying in her bathtub, head thrown back, a small smile on her face. Her eyes were closed.
He grinned and relaxed immensely. He left the bathroom, closing the door behind him, and headed to Celia's room. He carefully lifted the sleeping infant out of the baby carrier and took off her green jacket before placing her in the crib. He rested his hand on her stomach and leaned in to whisper his customary, "Good night, I love you."
Next he headed to the bathroom and opened the door gently. He sat down on the edge of the tub and stuck his finger in the water. It was lukewarm, almost chilly to the touch. Lindsay had obviously been in the water for a while. He reached out to her, his fingers still damp, and brushed her drying hair from her face.
She moaned softly, and her eyes softly opened. "Hi," she said quietly, focusing on Danny's face.
"Hey," he said. "You're gonna catch hypothermia if you sit in here all night."
She sighed. "Did you bring Celia home?"
Danny shook his head. "I decided to leave her at my place for the night," he said, shrugging.
Lindsay slapped his arm and started to get out of the tub, reaching over for a towel.
He rubbed his arm and chuckled. "Geez, just kiddin' Montana."
She stood up and wrapped the towel around herself before pulling the plug out of the tub with her toe.
"Feel better? Relaxed?" he asked, rubbing her thigh through the towel.
She nodded and smiled dreamily as she stepped out of the tub. "Much," she sighed.
He held out his hand to help her out of the tub. She took it in her damp hand and winced when she stepped onto the cold floor. He stood up off of the tub and followed her into her bedroom. She tugged out a pair of underwear from her dresser, but he reached out and stopped her.
"What?" she asked, grinning as she turned around to look at him.
He wrapped a hand around her midsection. "Do you really want to get dressed yet?" He smirked, kissing the side of her neck.
"I guess not," she giggled, and turned around in his arms.