Epilogue

Bobby was lost in his computer and the familiar sounds of the Major Case Squad room around him. The phones ringing, the chatter, the tapping of his partner's keyboard, the elevator giving off with a light ping. And then a voice cutting through it all, "Bobby, I'm going to kill you." Words that should worry him, were only too familiar those days. He glanced up and watched Kennedy, very upset, and very pregnant, waddle towards him. He only liked one of those looks.

He jumped from his chair and went to her side, putting an arm around her, "Kennedy, what are you doing here?" He guided her to his desk, where he pulled a chair over for her and eased her down into it.

"The question is what are you doing here?" She retorted, relaxing into the chair. She let out a long happy sigh and closed her eyes a moment as her muscles and bones calmed.

"I'm working," he answered, sitting at his desk.

"It's nearly nine PM," she informed him.

"I'm sorry, I had to work-"

"No," she shook her head.

Alex stood. "Why don't I get you a water," she told Kennedy, more just wanting to get out of the path of the storm.

Kennedy looked back at Bobby. "No," she said again. "Not anymore. I will not tell you this again. You are a husband now, and soon you will be a father. This obsessive working will cease. I know how important your work is to you, but now you have a family. Now, you need to be around."

"Honey, I can't just-"

"Robert Goren! Do you want this baby?" Not only did she use his whole name, but her pointer finger was out in his face.

"Of course I do, but-"

"Because I refuse to give birth to your child if you do not promise me that you will try to change things!"

He smiled a bit, "You do realize that you're going to give birth no matter what?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Try me, buster."

"Alright," he said. "Alright, I will do what I can to not work this late all the time."

"Yes, you will."

"Did you really have to come all the way out here? I told you I don't want you driving. I leave my car at home for emergencies only."

She waved him off. "Oh calm down, I didn't drive."

He gave a sigh of relief. "Good-"

"I took the subway."

"You what?!"

"Lower your voice." She rubbed her stomach and shifted in her seat to find more comfort.

"Kennedy! You can't take the subway in your condition! My child will not be born in the subway!"

"I know that! I've got a week to go, and I don't plan on having this kid anywhere but the hospital." Bobby leaned over his desk and rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a migraine coming on. Not the first in recent weeks.

"Here you go," Alex said, coming back to the desks. She handed Kennedy a coffee mug of water. "How you feeling?"

Kennedy drank the water then grumbled, "Let me use your gun to shoot your partner, then I'll let ya know." Alex smiled.

"I understand that."

"Oh, no, Alex, I'm not joking," Kennedy said with a serious expression on her face.

"Ken," Bobby objected. Kennedy saw Captain Ross across the room walk into his office and shut the door.

"Up." She ordered, holding a hand out. Bobby ignored her.

"Give me a minute to wrap things up and we'll leave," he said.

"Fine, but still...up."

"What do you need?" He asked.

"Just help me-" she stopped and looked at Alex. "Be a pal, help me up." Alex ignored Bobby's protests and leaned down to help Kennedy stand up from the chair. "Thank you," Kennedy said, before she took a slow wobble towards the Captain's office.

"Kennedy," Bobby called behind her. She ignored him and pounded on Ross' door.

"Come on Danny, I know you're in there! I saw you!" She waited a beat, then knocked again. "Don't make me go into premature labor here in front of your door!" The door slowly opened and Captain Ross stood before her with a wary, reluctant smile.

"Kennedy, how are you? You look beautiful." She pushed past him and went into his office, holding her back.

"Yea if you've got a thing for fat pregnant women, which...hey, whatever floats your boat," she shrugged and turned back around to face him. He looked a bit scared. "We need to chat," she informed him. She walked behind his desk and sat in his chair. "You mind?"

"Not at all," he shook his head and walked over to his desk to sit on the edge of it.

"Now Ross, I've always liked you. You're a strict man, a wise man...and you're kinda handsome, too. Best of all, though, you never let my shithead of a husband get away with anything. I admire that. You challenge him."

Ross nodded, his smile still unsure. "Thank you..."

"But you listen to me." Her eyes narrowed. "I don't care how valuable he is here. I don't care how good he is at what he does. All I care about is that once my kid is born, Bobby be home for dinner. And you are going to see to it. You will make sure he leaves here at a decent hour, you hear?"

The man stuttered and sputtered a bit. "Kennedy, I understand, but you have to understand that-"

"I realize that there will be exceptions, I'm not completely unreasonable. But can we try? Five o'clock? No later than seven? That fair?"

"Very," Ross nodded quickly.

"Thank you. You're a good man, despite what Bobby says. And despite the fact that you're a man," she pointed to her stomach, "men that do this." She held onto his desk to help herself up. "I apologize for barging in."

"Don't," he said kindly. "My ex-wife used to get the same way."

She reached his door but turned back with a raised eyebrow. "Get what way?"

"Oh. I, no, I...uh, great to see you Kennedy. Really. We'll-I'll...I have to work." He sat down in his chair and opened a random folder on his desk and pretended to be busy. Kennedy rolled her eyes but let it go. She walked out of the office where Bobby was waiting.

"Kennedy...dear...what did you say to my boss?" Bobby asked carefully.

"I have to pee," she announced, and headed for the bathroom. She went through the door and stopped a moment to catch her breath. Suddenly, she didn't have to pee anymore. She was feeling dizzy and wanted to sit, so she sat. Right there on the bathroom floor. She ignored her wet skirt and closed her eyes. More time than she realized must have passed, because Alex stuck her head in the door.

"Kennedy? Bobby asked me to check-" She glanced down to Kennedy sitting just inside the door, against the wall. "You okay?"

Kennedy didn't open her eyes when she said softly. "I think my water just broke."

"To the left, no your other left. There, pull up on the right just a bit. A bit more. Just a bit-"

"Ed!" Olivia snapped.

Ed stood several feet before the couch with a hammer in one hand and two nails in the other, and he was smiling. He was watching her, standing on the couch, holding a new picture to the wall. He didn't really care about it being perfectly even, he was just enjoying the view. "Okay, hold it there." He climbed up on the couch close behind her, and reached his arms around hers to put the nails into the wall, just above where she held the picture. Once the nails were in the wall they both lifted the picture and set it onto the nails. Olivia's arms fell to her side as she looked at their new artwork, Ed's arms fell to her waist as he put his lips to her neck.

"Do you always have to think about that?" She asked with a laugh.

"Yes," he answered.

"Stop," she smiled, wriggling from his grasp. He let go of her and jumped from the couch, then held her hand as she stepped down. They both looked at the wall. "Looks good to me."

"It looks great," he nodded. He looked around. "The whole place looks great, you did good."

She looked around as well at their now finished apartment. "Only took a few months," she said with a shake of her head.

"It's amazing," he assured her. "It barely looks like Bobby's apartment anymore."

"Because it's not," she reminded him. "It's ours."

"I'm glad he and Kennedy wanted a more family friendly neighborhood, worked out for all of us to take over his lease." He followed Olivia over to where they had temporarily moved the coffee table. They each picked up an end and carried it back over to the couch. "And the furniture looks good, too. I just don't see why we had to get rid of all mine."

"Like I told you," Olivia straightened things out on the table. "Most of your ugly man furniture had been sitting in storage for over a year. Mine, on the other hand, smells good, is clean, and they all match."

"Ugly man furniture?" He asked with a grin.

"Yes, ugly man furniture."

"Now wait," he grabbed her by the waist as she tried to walk past. "Are you calling the man that owned the furniture ugly? Or just the furniture?"

She smiled and looked up at him. "Lack of self confidence much?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but the phone rang. "I have just enough thank you." He said as she went to the kitchen for the phone. "Cause this man knows he's hot." She rolled her eyes as she picked up the phone, then walked back out to him.

"Hello?...hey Bobby. What? Really? Okay, we'll be there!" She hung up and looked at Ed. "Kennedy's at the hospital. She's going to have the baby."

In the early afternoon, the day after Kennedy went into labor, a small group was ushered into the hospital room. Zack and Bella (the twins were with their grandparents for the night), Ed and Olivia, and Alex. Kennedy smiled at them all, a little blue bundle in her arms. "Everyone, meet little man. Henrik Zachary Goren."

Everyone awwed, especially Zack who was all grins. "You named him for me?"

Kennedy nodded. "And Henrik for a little boy that I knew in Germany. But, we'll just call him Henry." Little Henry was passed to Zack.

"He's so handsome," Olivia told Kennedy. Bobby was at Kennedy's side, looking a little unsure of what to say or do.

"Still with us Bobby?" Alex asked him. He nodded, but didn't speak. Everyone laughed.

"Hey Uncle Eddie, wanna hold him?" Bella asked, holding Henry out to Ed. For the first time in years, Ed didn't flinch at being called Eddie. He was just staring at the baby. He took a step backwards.

"I, uh...but it's a baby," he said.

Bella nodded with a reassuring smile, "Yes, he's a baby. Come on, take him." She moved forward and carefully moved the baby to Ed's arms.

The room was a happy buzz as the new person was passed along and welcomed to the world. Henry didn't know it in that moment, but these people before him, these people that would love him, teach him, and watch him grow; these people were his family. The best family a kid could ever need.

The End