They arrived at the main reception area of Saint Vincent's fast track clinic and as luck was somewhat in their favour today, Honey-Milk was at the desk going over a file with the receptionist. She glanced up, saw her husband and his partner walking and had to smother the guffaw. It never failed to amuse her when she saw two of the toughest cops Manhattan could scare up clutching gift bags, especially when it was Javier Esposito carrying a Build-A-Bear box and her own Kevin Ryan with a pale-blue bag from Boomerang complete with curling ribbons tying the handles.

'Hey you two.' Honey-Milk skirted the desk to kiss her husband. 'Meredeth's already here, she got here about ten minutes after you called her. Been shopping and building bears for the mama, I see. '

Esposito squirmed a little on the spot. His own stuffed bear Chewbacca from his childhood was now taking up residence on the ugly purple chair in his bedroom beside Meredeth's Guy Fawkes the Fox and stuffed Gonzo the Muppet. 'Everyone needs a teddy, even bad-ass medical examiners like Doctor Parrish.'

'Which reminds me.' Honey-Milk gave Ryan a little squeeze on the hip. 'I had a little chat with Montgomery when I called to tell him about Lanie's status.'

'Shit.'

'You're damn lucky your captain likes you so much, otherwise he'd have you cooling your heels with an official reprimand. But off the record, he says you shoulda gone for the bastard's balls.'

'Lovely talk from the mother of my child,' Ryan teased her.

'His words, not mine. I'd have said you should have ripped his dick off.'

'That's my girl.'

He laid his lips on Honey-Milk's in such a way Esposito was forced to clear his throat and remind them he was three feet away. 'Much as I don't want to discourage lovin' up your woman, this is her place of business and Dave is already back on call right now even though he's still upstairs with his girl.'

'I heard he was the paramedic who responded. How's he doing?' Honey-Milk asked as the trio walked over to the elevator.

'No idea, we had to go down to the precinct to roast the guy and they wanted to get her in here as quickly as possible.'

Esposito lifted an eyebrow when Ryan bolted off the elevator, three steps ahead of him and Honey-Milk. 'But I'm guessing he's a tad calmer than your husband. Does it bother you at all, that he's this worked up over a friend?'

'No.' Honey-Milk smiled. 'Knowing what he saw his mother go through, I can't help but see him as a little boy wanting to be the white knight. How could I not love him for trying to be a superhero? This way,' she added when Ryan stopped, waiting for them to catch up.

They wound their way from pediatrics into obstetrics; and Ryan had flashes of being here with Honey-Milk when Dell was born, being an exhausted sweaty mess in the middle of July, then kicking himself when he'd watch her fight through a contraction and bring their beautiful Dell into the world. They'd both been laughing and crying as they'd heard his plaintive wail and he'd wept without a shred of shame when he'd seen his boy placed in his mother's arms and blink at him with blue eyes identical to his own.

The relief that Lanie and Dave would get to have their moments like that too had him choked up again and he took a few breaths to steady his nerves. The last thing he wanted to do was cry again; it was bad enough that he'd let his guard in front of Esposito but he knew that if it had been the other way around, he'd have done exactly what his partner had done for him.

When they reached Lanie's room, they could see her in her hospital gown, lying on her side in bed and reading while Dave spooned up behind her, dozing lightly while her monitors beeped nearby. Even with being five months pregnant, Lanie was still tiny enough that this didn't cause her to be squished out of bed. And it was impossible not to find it sweet when Dave's arm was protectively wrapped around the baby bump. Even in sleep he wanted to keep them both close. At the side of the bed, Meredeth sat in a chair paging through a manuscript she was working on and making hand-written changes; she'd evidently brought snacks - her thermal cooler for hot and cold foods was on the floor by her feet.

At Honey-Milk's light knock Lanie glanced up from her book, smiled lightly. 'Hey,' she called softly. 'It's my favourite two-headed monster.'

Meredeth smiled as she saw Esposito and Ryan there, gathered up her things. 'Hi Javi. I'll let you guys have your visit. I'm right across the hall when they're gone, okay?'

Lanie nodded, and the moment Meredeth had left, after kissing Esposito sweetly of course, the two cops pounced. They only had an hour and a half until they had to be back at the precinct and both wanted to make the most of it.

'How are you?' Ryan asked earnestly. 'Is everything okay, the baby's okay?'

'Yes, we're just fine. If I'd fallen forward different story, but I landed mostly backwards so my ass took most of the shock. That sounds dirty.'

'We got you something. Not a something for the baby for you, but you-you.' Esposito held up his bag. 'You always need new toys when you're in the hospital.'

'Oh, that's so thoughtful.' Lanie passed Ryan her book, who put it on the night stand, then she tugged on Dave's arm at the elbow. 'Sweetie, we've got company.'

'Huh?' The paramedic blinked, then saw his girl's co-workers there, looking equally relieved and concerned for their friend. 'Oh, hey guys.'

'Didn't mean to wake you, we can go, if you want,' Esposito offered as Dave sat up, tugged on his boots.

'No, it's okay. I'm on call right now and it's hella-busy so chances are I'm going to be-' he was interrupted by his beeper paging him to the ambulance bay. 'Alright, Jayla, I'm coming. I gotta go, sweetheart. I'll call you when I can and I'll be back by eight, okay? I love you.'

'I love you too.'

He gave Lanie a kiss, the kind that made Ryan and Esposito look anywhere else, then picked up his jacket and headed for the door. When he was gone, Esposito dragged over two chairs while Ryan helped Lanie adjust her bed so she was sitting up to chat with them.

'Have you talked to your dad?'

'Dave called him, and he's in Detroit so he's going to hop the next flight out. What are those?' she asked, pointed at the bags.

'Oh, here, we thought you could use a little cheering up and you needs something to cuddle with when your Italian Stallion's not around.' Esposito passed her the Build-A-Bear box. 'And you could, if you wanted, pass it on to the little one once it gets here.'

'See, I knew you have a soft caramel centre to you, even though act all tough. Oh, Javier.' Lanie pulled out the tawny bear dressed in green scrubs with a little plastic clipboard in hand. 'It's so precious.'

'Every baby needs a bear. I still have mine to pass on when it's time for Meredeth and I to have our family.'

'Think you'll be ready to part with it by then?' Ryan joked, giving Esposito a smile; it was his first one since they'd seen Lanie go down on scene. He earned a shove for his troubles but he played nice. 'I don't think we should make Lanie referee right now.'

'Agreed. You hungry, you want anything?'

'I'm good. Meredeth brought her black bean and tomato soup, and blackberry black tea so I'm stuffed.'

'Open mine.' Ryan bounced like a little kid, making Honey-Milk shake her head; with all the antics of the boys Lanie had nearly forgotten she was there until her pager went off.

'Sorry, I have to run. I'll be by later, okay Lanie? And I heard from Lili too, she and Cam will be waiting for you when you get in tomorrow.'

Lanie welled up as Honey-Milk took off to answer her page; it truly was a gift to have friends like this, who would bring her bears and hover like mother hens. She had thought she'd be sick of all the attention and pampering they'd been lavishing on her but particularly right now, there was no better medicine than their love.

She didn't stay mushy for long as Ryan poked his bag towards her on the bed while Esposito left momentarily, presumably to talk to Meredeth. 'Open,' Ryan repeated.

'I heard you got a little excited in Interrogation, Detective,' Lanie said casually as she picked at the knotted ribbon, making Ryan flush pink.

'My wife has a big flappy mouth some days.'

'Thank you for it though. If I hadn't been so damn scared, I'd have kicked him in the junk myself. Silver lining, you know, aside from my child's well being, I landed on my left hip and my behind so my iPod and my speakers weren't damaged.'

'That's good, though you know Castle would buy you a new one in a heartbeat if it was.'

'He's such a dad, wanting to buy all the toys for his girls and boys.' Lanie pulled out the tissue paper and giggled girlishly. 'A giraffe? You got me a stuffed giraffe?'

'Her name's Dots,' Ryan said proudly. 'I know you like them.'

'I do. Hello Dots, you and...what's the bear's name?'

'Maggie,' Esposito supplied from the door as he and Meredeth walked back in. 'After Hot Lips from M*A*S*H.'

'Okay, Dots and Maggie, you two are going to be best buddies and soon you'll have a little boy or girl who's just going to love you,' Lanie told the toys. Not a single person in the room made fun of the doctor for talking to the stuffed animals; they didn't need that kind of bad karma on their consciences.

'I thought you might be up for a few rounds of cards.' Meredeth pulled up a third chair on the other side of Lanie's bed, careful not to bump her IV of fluids and her monitors. 'You're not on any dietary restrictions are you, aside from normal baby stuff?'

'Nope. Healthy as a horse with another horse inside.'

'Excellent because these,' Meredeth dragged out a bulk-size bag of peanut M&Ms, 'are our poker chips. Brown are one dollars, orange are twos, yellows are fives, greens are tens and the big blues are twenties. No blinds, everyone ante up two dollars in the first round.'

As Meredeth gave everyone fifty 'dollars', Ryan felt the stone weight lift from his heart. Everything was going to be fine.

R&R&Enjoy!