'Italian?'

'She doesn't like pasta much. Lasagne, but that's about it.'

'Okay, how about French?'

'Too much butter and cream.'

'Thai?'

Too spicy, she's had really bad heartburn and gas since Christmas.'

Dave laughed, leaned his elbows on the push-bar of the shopping cart at Gristedes while he tickled Carey in his baby-seat. 'Has pregnancy made her a little picky or something?'

'If by 'something' you mean me still lacking in the culinary skills to make my wife a fancy dinner, then yes.' Esposito stared at the sea of fresh vegetables. He was a wash-and-munch kinda guy when it came to greener selections. Now, when he'd had to treat them as ingredients, it was a whole different story.

He'd never been so terrified of potatoes in his life.

'I'm sure you don't have to do this, man,' Dave said, making sure his son didn't reach over and start gumming a grapefruit. The kid was start to teeth early and thought everything he put in his hands was edible. 'I think she'd have loved the hockey game on its own.'

Esposito glanced up from where he was putting tomatoes in a bag. There was always something you could do with tomatoes. 'Dave, think back to when Lanie was twenty-nine weeks and four days pregnant. Imagine you got called early in the morning, at the ass-crack of dawn early and you not only had to cut plans for your day off but you also had to dump Jayla's son with her because her husband was working time and a half, and after Jayla's man picks up her boy, Lanie made fresh hot lunch for you and Jayla and the others on your team because she doesn't want you stressed out at work.' He dumped the fruit into the cart. 'Meredeth is getting tickets and a nice meal from me.'

They shoved the cart towards the deli cheese counter and Dave pursed his lips when he saw feta was on half price. 'Hey, what about Greek food? She like that?'

'Actually, that sounds genius. She loves Greek food.'

'Okay.' Knowing what they needed now, Dave wheeled the cart. 'Suivez-moi, if you please.'

They made it back to Chelsea in good time and the moment they hit the door Artie was taken to the curb, Carey was set up in his high chair and they got to work. This part at least Esposito knew he was good at. He was Meredeth's 'helper monkey'; he could peel and chop and shred like a champion. The trick for him was putting it together the way she did.

With Dave helping him though, and the Blackhawks game on the tube, Esposito figured making his baby-mama a feast would be a cinch.

'How exactly are we getting around Meredeth to surprise her?'

'She's with Lanie back-up coach at the birthing class. Honey-Milk suggested it would be a good idea to have at least one session where she is present on her own.'

'Ah. Yeah, we did that too, with Jenny. Is she going to be in the room?'

Esposito nodded, drained the washed tomatoes before he began slicing them. 'Harvey is using the same team he used with Lanie when she had Carey. What do you think of the name Max?'

'Max?'

'Yeah. We're thinking we have a boy. Maximilian Alejo Esposito.'

'It's good. Dignified if you leave it long, and cool if you shorten it.'

Esposito laughed. Apparently he subscribed to the 'child-sexy-boardroom' school of thought like Meredeth. Though truth be told, there was a lot of value in it. 'Is that why you call your little man Carey?'

'Sort of. It's also to keep it straight between this one and Detective Ryan. Plus Carey Parrish-Robbins has a good rhythm to it.'

'It does. Okay, what am I doing here?'

'Tomatoes are done, next is onions or spinach, take your pick.'

'Pa-doos spiz?' Carey babbled, looking up at his dad hopefully.

'You got it, pal.' Dave dried his hands, pulled his bottle of juice from the fridge. 'Knock yourself out, big boy.'

'Bo-bo-bo.'

'See what if I can't do that?' Esposito asked carefully, dumping washed spinach into . 'What if I can't pick out what my kid's babbling about?'

'Oh trust me, you don't at first and it's like trial and error. It's all a learning curve but you'll be fine. Besides, you got me and Castle and Gil, and most of all you've got your best friend to help you, too. And Lanie's so excited to pass on what she knows to Mere.'

While their husbands were making dinner in Chelsea, Lanie and Meredeth were working their way through some breathing exercises with Amelia and Honey-Milk in the birth class. It felt a little funny not to have her solid husband against her back when she did practice contractions and learned about her breathing management but she also liked that she had one of her best friends with her who'd also had a baby. Once the exercise was done, it was break-time and while most women were getting up to pee, Meredeth was quite content to chill with Lanie in the comfy beanbag chairs in the classroom.

'Mere, I'm telling you, you are going to knock it out,' Lanie said with a smile, rubbing her back, not at all surprised when she let out a belch. 'Feel better?'

'Yeah.'

'I used to get the burps because I was hungry when I was pregnant.'

Meredeth returned Lanie's proud grin. 'I think it was the garlic in that Caesar salad I had before coming to class.'

'You didn't eat with Javier?'

'No, I don't like coming to these classes on a full stomach. One night I'd made black-bean and chicken enchiladas and not only did I feel nauseous but I let a monster fart rip when we were doing that exercise we just finished.'

'How are we doing here, ladies?' Honey-Milk had come over after consulting with the couple beside them. 'Feeling a little better about the whole ordeal?'

'Yeah, although, I have to say I don't know how you did it without an epidural.'

Honey-Milk shook her head. 'Not everyone's crazy like I am. In fact, of the four of us who've had babies in our little tribe, I'm the only one who skipped the happy-juice. Soon it's going to be only one of five.'

'Why did you, if you don't mind me asking?' Lanie inquired, reaching for her glass of complimentary orange juice; the little room had had a plate of healthy snacks and juices set up for everyone to munch on. 'Was it really that painless?'

'No, but it wasn't Death Valley, either. Honestly, I just didn't want to be drugged up. There's no really deep philosophical explanation. I just didn't want them.'

'You're nuts.'

'Kevin thought so too, which was why he turned into such a pansy,' Honey-Milk laughed, remembering fondly how irritating a mother-hen her husband had been. 'But he was wonderful in the birthing room. He even looked down there to see it actually wriggling out while he held onto my leg and my foot.'

'Javi and I think it's going to be a big baby,' Meredeth commented. 'And the position we've decided on as our go-to move for the birth itself doesn't exactly permit that.'

'If you're worried it means he won't want to have sex with you again, don't.' Lanie shook her head, drained her glass. 'Dave got a nice juicy shot of Carey's head popping out, and he still treats me like I'm a goddess of love.'

Honey-Milk nodded, folded her arms over her chest. 'We see how your hubby looks at you Mere, he's going to love you until the day he dies. And we also know that feeling is super-uber mutual. And not saying this is going to happen, but it's possible when you get in there, you'll change your minds. Kevin was determine he wasn't looking at it, yet once he did, he couldn't keep his eyes away and he started crying tears of joy.'

'I'm fully prepared for my big tough guy to be pouring like a faucet. Oof, mm, sweetie, yes I know it your class, but Mommy's talking right now,' Meredeth told her belly when she felt a hefty kick near her bladder. 'I know you want to be included but it's also time for grown-ups to talk, too. Stop looking at me like that,' she added, noting the mushy looks that Lanie and Honey-Milk were exchanging before looking back at her.

'Just so cute the way you're doing that now too. I used to tell my baby about how we find killers, when I was still doing autopsies.' Lanie combed her fingers through her hair. 'Dave would read him Shakespeare at night.'

'Really?'

She nodded. 'The baby really liked MacBeth and The Twelfth Night but not The Merchant of Venice. He read it twice and both times afterwards, I had really bad indigestion. Go figure.'

'This one really digs the Beach Boys, he or she just loves when I turn them on.' Meredeth drummed her fingers over her bump which was more like a mountain now. 'Takin' after Daddy already.'

The first thing Meredeth smelled when she and Lanie walked into the Chelsea townhouse was fried cheese and butter, like someone had made pizza or quesadilla. The second was roasted meat and she shook her head.

'The guys must have gotten take out,' she said, mock-pouting when Lanie crouched to unzip her boots. 'Thanks Mom.'

'I remember the days of not being able to touch my toes. Or my knees even. There we go.'

The girls wandered into the kitchen and Meredeth felt her heart skip a beat.

The table was set, covered in the winter table cloth with silver snowflakes threaded through it. On the table were some unscented taper candles in bright yellow waiting to be lit; the table itself was set and ready to be served. Underneath, Arturo was chewing on one of his dental toys and Dave was seated at the table, feeding Carey pureed bananas, most of which made it in his mouth. Carey saw his mother come in and he grinned around his spoon.

'Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma!' he gurgled, beating his hands on the high chair table-top. 'Ma-ma-ma!'

'Hi big boy!' Lanie went over and kissed the top of her son's head. 'What were you and Daddy and Uncle Javi up to?'

'Oh, this and that. He's upstairs getting the camera, by the way,' Dave added, leaning back to smack Lanie on the lips. 'How was class?'

'Meredeth's doing very well, she'll be pushing that baby out like a pro.'

'Hey gorgeous.'

Meredeth turned and saw her husband walk in with the video camera in hand, recording her. He always seemed to be doing that these days, and he called her 'gorgeous' even when she felt like a rampaging rhino would be sexier than her. She gave him a little wave. 'Hey handsome.'

'You are in for a treat, babe,' Esposito grinned, very proud of his accomplishment. 'Dave and I made dinner.'

'You cooked? And you're not in the burn unit?'

'Uh-huh. And not instant food either, we really made stuff.' Esposito set down the camera, gave Meredeth a long kiss that almost had her blushing to be kissed in such a way in front of their friends. 'We took Carey and went to Gristedes, and we're having souvlaki, potatoes, and Greek salad for dinner tonight. You and my baby hungry?'

Meredeth's stomach gave a loud gurgle. 'Guess that answers that question.'

They sat down, Meredeth getting the most comfortable chair - it had an extra cushion on it - while Dave poured red wine for Lanie, and white for himself and Esposito, and a glass of soft sparkly white grape juice for the mother-to-be. Before they started with the main course, the men presented their ladies with another treat - oven baked spanakopita. Meredeth bit into the bite-sized treat and was moaning in culinary delight.

'Oh, baby. Javi, this is amazing!'

'Yeah?'

'Hell, yeah. Have you been holding out on me all this time?'

'No,' he replied hastily, 'Dave showed me what to do, baby steps all the way.'

'It tastes great.'

They brought out the chicken souvlaki and roasted potatoes, served the salad on the side, and for the duration of the meal, there was only the sound of clanking cutlery. Esposito smiled, glad to see Meredeth wasn't poking at the meat like it might jump up and bite her in the nose, and even wanted to load up her plate with a little bit more. He stopped her, shook his head which had her pouting.

'I'm still hungry, babe.'

'There's baklava for dessert.'

'Really?'

'Okay, that part we got at the bakery already done, but we did get the chocolate fro-yo to go with it.'

'I'll get it.' Dave wiped his mouth on his napkin, jerked his head at Lanie. He knew his friend wanted a little one-on-one with Meredeth for this next part. 'Come give me a hand, Elenia.'

They stood up, leaving Meredeth and Esposito at the table where she smiled in gratitude at him.

'This was fantastic, Javi, I love you so much for doing this.'

'I love you too, Mere, but wait. There's more.'

'More?'

'I knew it was a really shitty thing I was stuck doing dumping Dell into your lap when you weren't even awake three days ago, and you not only looked after him, you made me and my co-workers lunch on top of it. You should be nominated for sainthood.'

'That's what this was for?' Doubly touched that he'd made it up to her by taking care of her like she had him, Meredeth pressed her hand to his cheek. 'You're too good to me.'

'Well, I didn't think a nice dinner was quite enough for my Danish angel, so here.' Esposito reached into his pocket, pulled out the tickets and watched Meredeth's eyes go round with glee, glittering like sapphires. 'You and me, Saturday night, we're hitting the Garden.'

'Oh my god!' Meredeth's voice was a squeak that could put Betty Boop to shame. 'Javi, you didn't have to do this!'

'Yes I did. You're my Meredeth, and even when you've been growing our baby you've still been an amazing cop wife, dealing with shit all in stride. You deserve the best I can give you, because I love you so much.'

Meredeth grabbed a fistful of his shirt, pulled him in for a juicy kiss. 'I love you so much, too, and you are so getting laid when our guests leave.'

R&R&Enjoy.