*some early Lindanny*

"Reagan, this is your new partner, Edwards," his Sargent introduced the recently appointed detective to his new partner.

"Hey," Edwards shook Danny's hand. "Jake. People call me J."

"Danny." He sat at the desk. "Whadda we got?"

"Murder one... how long you been on the job?"

"Three and a half years. Made detective last week."

"Well, welcome to the DB. Get ready to see some serious shit." He handed Danny a notepad, "this should brief you."

The young detective nodded, just a little confused.


"Hey," J looked up sometime later. "You know a sexy blonde, 5'6-ish, big bazookas, legs for days?"

"Blue eyes and a big smile?"

"Definitely blue eyes. Don't know about the smile."

"I probably can list five from the top of my head. Why?"

"Because I call dibs."

Danny looked behind him, seeing the blonde walking towards them. She accidentally bumped shoulders with someone, laughed casually, and apologized. "Whoa. No. Uh uh. You can't call dibs."

"Why not?"

"Hey, babe," the blonde smiled widely at Danny. Putting her hand on his shoulder, she leaned down to kiss him. "How's your first day?"

"Just going over some case files." Danny turned to J, "Linda, this is my partner, J." He watched as the slightly older detective stood and shook her hand. "J, my wife, Linda."

"No way. You're married to this vixen?!"

"Okay, first off, I'm not a vixen." Linda frowned, sort of sizing J up. "And, yes, I am married to Danny. And is that really that hard to believe? You know what? I don't know what's worse. Guys telling me they can't believe I'm not married, when I clearly am. Or guys being beyond shocked to learn I'm married to Danny Reagan. Is that really shocking?"

J raised his eyebrows.

"No, wait. I do know something worse. Guys hitting on me just because I'm nicely built. It's not my fault I was born like this. Or rather, grew into this-"

"Uh, Linda, babe. Did you come here just to get mad or did you actually have something to do?" Danny looked up at her.

"For your information, I came by to congratulate you."

"Well, thank you."

"You're welcome... plus, Staten Island doesn't have storks orange creams..."

Danny laughed, "see ya tonight?"

"If Marlyn doesn't get sick again. Here's hoping she won't."

"Let's hope..."


Sunday came, and Linda thought she was going to cry out loud. Not only were her menstrual cramps killing her, but she had gotten them- which meant no baby... again. She stared at her food, trying her hardest to keep her lips from quivering. She dug her nails into the palm of her hand, trying to get rid of the pain and the will to cry. She couldn't take it anymore, as a cramp hit hard. "Excuse me," she barely said as she slowly walked out into the snow. She hugged herself as the tears flowed freely, the slight wind blowing her hair. She felt a coat drape on her shoulders.

"You okay, baby?"

"No."

"What's the matter?"

"I got my period... again!" Linda sniffed and looked to the sky as Danny put his arm around her.

"Maybe next time."

"Soon there won't be a next time... What if- what if I can't have children?"

Danny frowned, he had thought of that. "Adoption?"

"We can't afford that. Four years of steady work, and we still can't afford luxuries."

"If we really wanted to adopt, I'm sure the family would help us out... but let's not give up yet."

"Danny, I'm not twenty two anymore. I'm twenty seven, almost thirty. I know thirty isn't old, but it really does make a difference when you're having a baby... I'm starting to think we weren't meant to be parents..."

Danny hugged Linda as she sobbed into his chest. He closed his eyes and willed his tears to stay at bay; he knew Linda was right- there weren't that many more years they could go through with it all. He prayed the next time would do the trick, but a part of him doubted it...