A/N - OKAY, SO I'M WRITING IN CAPS BECAUSE I FEEL REALLY BAD ABOUT NOT UPDATING IN LIKE OVER A MONTH. I'M REALLY SORRY ABOUT IT. BUT DON'T WORRY, I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN ABOUT THIS STORY OR ANYHTING. I JUST GOT A NEW JOB SO I'M TRYING TO FIND TIME TO WRITE. Okay, enough with the caps. But I don want to apoligize to everyone. I hope you guys can forgive me.

Oh, and thanks to everyone who voted in the poll. Everyone got at least one vote except Don. Even little Vanessa. Anywho, thanks for that and here is chapter 35. HAPPY READING!!!

Disclaimer - I don't own CSI NY but I do own the fact that I tied for Best Flack/Angell fic in the 2009 Fanfiction Awards.

Which brings me to my next point. I just want to thank everyone so much for nominating me and voting for me. I also got second for best baby epic, and best Hawkes/OC story. It really means a lot so thank you. I love all you guys so much and I really appreciate it. I owe you all so much!!!

Okay, on with the story.

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"What about this one?"

Vanessa looked up from the book she was reading and glanced at the sample invitation in Jess' hand. "You're kidding, right?"

Jess looked back down at the invitation. "You don't like it?"

Vanessa took the invitation from Jess' hand and held it up. "You're getting married, not throwing you're sixtieth birthday party. This invitation says 'Hello, I'm old and boring'"

Jess laughed at her comment. "Since when did you become an expert in wedding invitations?"

"I'm not an expert. It's just that this one looks really bad," she said with a smirk.

Jess let out a frustrated groan as she tossed the invitation back on the coffee table. About a month after she and Don got engaged, she realized that she actually had to plan a wedding. She didn't have any idea on where to start until Stella suggested a wedding planner.

At first she was against the idea, especially after seeing the price but Don convinced her that it wouldn't be a problem, mainly because without a wedding planner, neither one of them would know where to start.

So, they met with a woman named Nina Williamson and began to plan out the whole affair. They both knew they wanted something simple yet nice. Nina suggested small chapel located right outside of the city. Don and Jess took the time to visit it and fell in love with the set up. They booked the date for early June and now Jess was supposed to pick from the invitations that Nina sent her.

"What about this one?" Jess asked. Before Vanessa could reply, Jess shook her head. "Never mind, it's too white."

Vanessa looked at Jess with a confused look on her face. Before she could say anything, the phone began to ring.

"Can you get that Ness?"

"Sure," she answered as she leaned over the arm of the sofa to grab the phone from the end table. She smiled when she recognized the number on the caller id. "Hello, you've reached Jo Beth's horse farm, how may I help you?" she said in a strong country accent. She could hear Don laugh on the other end.

"Jo Beth's horse farm?" he questioned after he managed to stop laughing.

"Well, there was some old western on TV earlier and the main character was named Jo Beth and she had a horse farm."

"You watch way too much TV Nessa," Don replied with a chuckle.

"I know," she responded. "But Dad, when are you coming home?"

She heard him sigh through the phone. "I don't know Ness, maybe a few more hours. You will probably be sleep though."

Vanessa let out a disappointed groan. "You were supposed to be home already, remember."

"I remember and I promise I'll be home as soon as I'm done, alright." He paused when Vanessa didn't respond. "Alright?"

"Alright," she said with a grumble.

Don chuckled again. Moments like those reminded him that even though she was adopted, Vanessa was a lot like him, especially when it came to her stubbornness. "What's Jess doin'?" he asked.

Vanessa glanced over at Jess who was still staring at the numerous invitations. "Let's just say she preoccupied with wedding tasks."

"Invitations, huh?"

"Yup," she said.

Don could still hear the sadness in her voice. The past week had been hectic for Don's work schedule. While Jess managed to be home most evenings, Don ended up working until after Vanessa was already in bed. If they were lucky, they could see each other in the morning, but it still didn't leave enough time to do anything together. "Listen squirt, if we could do anything together, what would you want to do?"

Vanessa thought for a minute as she laid her head on the arm of the sofa. "Um, I don't know."

"Well, you better hurry up and think of something," he told her.

"Why?" she questioned.

"Well, you never know when I'll sneak up on ya."

Vanessa frowned. "What are you talking about?" Her question was interrupted be the sound of the front door opening. She sat up and craned her neck to see Don walking through the front door, his phone held up to his ear.

She smiled brightly as she got up from her place on the couch to go over and meet him in the hallway.

"How ya doin' squirt?" he asked as she placed her arms around his waist.

"You tricked me," she replied with a grin.

Don shrugged as he looked down at her shorter figure. "I'm sneaky like that."

Vanessa giggled at his comment. As Don went to move further in the house, Vanessa didn't let go of his waist. He chuckled as he looked down at her. "You're not gonna let me go huh?"

"Nope."

Don smiled as he began to walk in the living room with Vanessa still clung to her waist. Her feet rested on top of his as he walked over to Jess who was still going over the invitations.

"Hey Jess," he greeted.

"Which one?" She held up two different invitations that in Don's opinion looked exactly the same.

"Uh, what's the difference?"

"This one is pearl white and this one is cotton white," she explained.

"Told ya," Vanessa joked as she moved off of Don and retook her seat on the other end of the couch.

Don chuckled as he sat in between them, scooting closer to Jess. "Babe, it doesn't matter to me. Plus, I don't think anyone is gonna notice the difference."

Jess let out a sigh as she placed them back on the coffee table and leaned back on the sofa. "I just want everything to be perfect."

He smiled as she leaned over to place a soft kiss on her cheek. "As long as I get to make you my wife, it will be."

Jess looked over at Don, rolling her eyes. "Okay, Mr. Suave."

He chuckled at her statement. "Of course."

Jess laughed as she leaned over to place a kiss on his lips. When she pulled back she smiled brightly at him. "Thank you," she whispered softly.

Don returned the gesture before turning to look at the invitations. "Look Jess, all these invitations are fine. Just pick the one that you like the best and call it a day."

She turned to look at the pile and picked up one. "This one. It was my first pick but I kept changing it."

Don smiled as took it from her. "See, that wasn't so hard."

"Easy for you to say; you weren't here for the first two hours of her going through them," Vanessa said with a smirk. "So Dad, where we goin'?"

"How about dinner, all three of us," he suggested.

"Okay. Can we go to a movie afterwards?" Vanessa asked hopefully.

Don gave her a knowing look. "You know it's a school night Ness, right?"

Vanessa shrugged as she got up from the couch and headed towards her bedroom. "Can't blame a girl from trying."

Don chuckled as she left the room as he laid his head back on the couch.

"Rough day?" Jess asked him, noticing how his demeanor changed slightly.

"Why do people feel that they need to hurt children?" he asked plainly.

Jess let out a long sigh. She understood that ever since becoming a father, Don found it harder to deal with cases involving kids. She too found it more difficult, especially when trying to explain what was happening to the parents. "Wanna talk about it?"

"A little girl was killed"

"Any leads?"

"Yeah, it was the mother's ex-boyfriend. We got him in custody. But it's not so much this case, it's every case. It's like, sometimes I feel that something could happen to Ness and I won't be able to do anything about it."

"Look Don," she started, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm not gonna sit here and say that Ness is a hundred percent safe, all the time, because no one is. But I know you know that you would do anything to protect her. And you better know that I would too. Between the two of us, I think we got a pretty good system going on here."

Don looked over at Jess with a small smirk. "I guess you're right."

"Aren't I always," she replied with small grin.

"I just don't get how someone could do it," he told her.

"How someone could do what?" Vanessa asked coming back into the room.

"Uh, forget to put the toilet seat down," he said simply.

"Ew," she remarked, bending down to tie her shoe. "You guys ready?"

"Yup," Jess answered, standing up from the couch. "Let me just get my…" she was cut off by the sound of her phone ringing.

"Ugh," Vanessa said with a groan, knowing what was going to happen.

Jess gave her an apologetic look as she answered. "Angell."

Vanessa turned to Don and shrugged her shoulders. "Why does this always happen to us?"

"That's part of our job Ness. We live in the city that never sleeps, ya know," he told her.

"Well, it should at least take a nap," she replied with a frown.

"Well, you guys better get a table for two," Jess said walking over to them. "That was Mac. A body was found…, never mind," she said, not wanting to go into any details in front of Vanessa. "He knew you just got back so he figured he'd call me."

"Look Jess, if you want to stay, I can go instead," Don offered.

Jess shook her head. "No, it's fine. You two go ahead."

Don nodded and stood up, placing a kiss on her cheek. "Give me five minutes to change Ness," he said as she headed towards his bedroom.

Jess followed him towards the room, closing the door behind her.

"Don?" she called out.

"Yeah?" he answered from the bathroom.

"Are you sure you still want to get married?" she asked him.

Don poked his head out of the bathroom. "What?"

Noticing the panicked look on his face, Jess couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry, I phrased the question wrong. I meant to say are you still want to have a big wedding. I mean, why can't we just go to Vegas and call it a day?"

Relief washed over Don's features as he walked out of the bedroom and took a seat on the bed. "Vegas?"

"Yeah. We can go to one of those Elvis chapels and then hit a casino to win big," she joked as she began putting on her shoes.

"Yeah, and when we get back, and our mother's find out, Mac will have to investigate our murders."

Jess laughed out loud as she heard someone knock at the door.

"Dad, someone's at the door," Vanessa yelled out.

"You can open in Ness," he called back. "Danny said he was gonna drop off some dvd's he borrowed," he told Jess. "But about this wedding thing, I thought you were excited."

"I am but it's just a lot more work than I thought it would be."

"Well, just remember that it will all be worth it in the end," he said with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah. This more of your Mr. Suave act?"

"Is it working?" he asked.

The smile on her face told him that it was.

Jess stood up and excited the bedroom with Don right behind her.

"You ready Ness?" Don asked. He paused when he didn't her say anything. "Ness?" he said, looking around the living room. He went towards her bedroom as Jess went towards the kitchen.

"Hey Jess, is Vanessa in the kitchen with you?" he asked from the hallway.

"No, why?"

Don made his way into the room. "Cause she's not in her room."

"Vanessa," Jess called out loudly. Both waited in silence for an answer.

Jess grew panicked as she didn't hear anything. "Where is she Don?"

Before he could answer, there was a knock at the door. "That's probably her. Maybe she got locked out talking to Danny," he said, rushing towards the door.

He swung it open, surprised to see who was on the other side. "Danny?"

"Hey," he greeted as Jess came to stand beside Don. He suddenly noticed the panicked on both of there faces. "What wrong?"

Jess ignored his questioned and pushed past him into the hallway. "Vanessa!" she yelled out.

She turned back to Danny and Don as she ran a hand over her face. "She's gone."