"Well." Detective Danny Reagan slapped his hands on the arm rest of his chair, "I'm gonna head out now."
"We're still meeting at Peter Luger's?" Baez wondered, looking at the clock.
"Yup. Thanks a lot for pitching in."
"Hey, don't mention it. She's like a sister to me."
Danny smiled, "see ya at seven."
"Yup. I'll be there. Bye, partner."
Linda put her hand on her head and sighed. It was her birthday, and she wondered what the family was up to. There had been too many quick-subject-changes for it not to be really special. Although... she smiled, last night was pretty special. A bath with all her favorite expensive soaps and her husband joining her, leading to making love? Nothing could top that in her minds eye. The laundry machine timer went off, signaling that the load needed to be dried.
Before heading down to the basement, Linda grabbed her head phones and plugged them into her phone. She put all her songs on shuffle, Witchcraft being the first one. The lyrics reminded the blonde of her morning. Those fingers in my hair, that sly come hither stare... oh, yeah. This song, although pretty innocent, definitely reminded her of that morning and the previous night.
Linda grinned to herself as she settled the clean laundry basket on her hip. She almost waltzed up the stairs- Frank Sinatra was one of her favorite artists; she always listened to him while she experienced menstrual cramps. His voice bizarrely calmed down the pain. Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out, Danny was calling. Taking the headphones out, she answered it, "Hey, babe. What's up?"
"I got stuck at work," Danny lied, trying to sound dejected and annoyed.
"I thought you said you were at your desk."
"Well, obviously I'm not!" He smiled to himself, that sounded like convincing anger. "It's not like your birthday's a national holiday."
"Oh..." that hurt. Did the morning mean nothing to him? "Okay. It can't be helped, I guess."
"Yeah... Listen, I gotta go." He hung up before she could say 'good bye'. Turning to the woman beside him, he said, "you know the plan, sis?"
"Danny, this is insulting! I have an excellent memory!"
"Just checking!"
Later that evening, the doorbell rang. Linda wondered who would be dropping by at six in the evening. "Erin? What're you doing here?"
"Two things," the ADA said as she walked through the door. "One, happy birthday!" She hugged her sister-in-law. "And two, What Danny said about your birthday? That was uncalled for."
"You were there?"
"Yeah. I was dropping off some files. Anyway, to make up for my brother's stupidity, I'm going to take you out. Just the two of us."
"Okay, thank you! Lemme change real fast." She gestured to her jean shorts and tank top. "Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise. But where something nice. I would say work clothes—"
"But mine are scrubs!" Linda nodded and smiled. "I'll be back fast."
"Peter Luger's?" Linda looked at the building as she got out of the car, "Erin, this is too much—"
"Come on!" The brunette practically pushed the blonde to the front door.
"Reagan." Erin subtly winked at the hostess, who nodded in return.
Linda's face lit up as they neared their table.
"Surprise!" The Reagans and Baez, who had quickly become Linda's best friend, were all smiles.
"You guys!" She took a seat next to Danny who kissed her cheek.
"Happy birthday, baby." Danny kissed her lips.
