Nigel sat, motionless at his desk in front of the computer screen, like he did everyday at work. Waiting patiently for test results to be finished, emails to be returned...scans and blood work to be analyzed. It was the same thing. Every day. People never stopped dying in the city of Boston, and he would have tests to run until they did. Sure, the days did have high points. They consisted of him spending the evenings and nights with Jordan and Eve. But there was no high point today. There was nothing to be analyzed. No body to autopsy. Today he was at his desk long after everyone had gone home. The clock on the computer read, eleven forty-three at night. Instead of being at home with Jordan and Eve he was at the office thinking about how, just that morning, he had ruined everything. The sad thing being that he hadn't realized the severity of what he did until it was too late.

Flashback to Morning

Nigel was always the first person up in the morning so after he showered and changed for work, he busied himself with preparing breakfast. Usually it was just eggs and toast but today he made Eve's favorite, French toast. He was in a good mood and his smile was so big and bright that it could have lit the darkest of places. Being a bachelor most of his life made him a pretty good cook. He set the table and set the plateful of french toast in the middle along with the syrup. His eyes were drawn to the bedroom where he heard movement. Jordan was obviously up. Instead of going in there he padded to Eve's room where the little girl was still sleeping. "Time to get up, little one." He whispered as he kneeled beside her toddler bed. When she didn't budge, he pulled the covered down to her feet.

Eve didn't want to get up. She wasn't a morning person so when she heard someone enter her room, she just snuggled deeper under her pink Barbie comforter. Then she heard a voice. It wasn't her mother so she cracked an eye open slightly just in time to have her warm covers yanked to her feet. She shivered as her small, pink, pajama clad body was exposed to the chilly room. "Go away, daddy." She mumbled into her pillow as she tried to tried to pull the covers back up.

"Daddy?" Nigel's whispered to himself and froze with the comforter clutched tightly in his hands. He wasn't sure if that is really what she said or if he was hearing things. Swallowing, he pushed it out of his mind as wishful thinking. "Come on, Eve. You have to get ready for daycare." He mumbled as began to tickle the half awake child.

Jordan took a quick shower and dressed for work. The smell of french toast was in the air and her mouth was watering. She could hear Nigel's muffled voice as he tried to wake Eve up and smiled. With a shake of her head, she padded towards her daughters room and leaned on the door frame, watching the cleaver ploy that Nigel used to get the little girl out of bed. Tickles. Eve was ticklish and Nigel had found out by accident one night they were playing. Now that is the method he used to get her out of bed. She watched in amusement.

"Ah!" Eve squealed as she felt fingers tickling her sides. Her eyes popped open and wiggled around in the bed, laughing, until she got enough leverage to launch into his arms, knocking him backward onto the floor. She had the upper hand for several seconds as her small hands worked at Nigel's sides, mimicking his actions against her. When he didn't respond to her assault, she stuck her lower lip out and pouted before she was swept into another fit of giggles as he attacked her bare feet. "Daddy, stop. Stop!" She giggled and opened her eyes, that had closed during the tickle attack, to find him staring at her with wide eyes. Eve wasn't stupid, if you asked anyone that knew her, they'd all agree. She knew that her 'Unca Nige' was around all the time and that he made her mommy happy. So why shouldn't she call him daddy? He acted like her first daddy had. He made her laugh and played with her like her first daddy. He read her bed time stories and tucked her in like her first daddy did. So why couldn't he be her new daddy? Sure the word had slipped out twice without intension but it was what she was thinking. Quickly, her eyes darted to the doorway where she just noticed her mother standing with a horrified look on her face. All of a sudden, Eve felt like she had done something wrong and didn't understand the adults reaction to her.

Nigel froze again. This time he was sure of what he heard. Eve had called him daddy just as plain as day. His fingers stilled against her feet and he was caught in her crystal blue gaze. He felt so overwhelmed with joy and happiness that his head began to spin. He stumbled to his feet and away from the confused child. He truly had no idea what to do. It had never been discussed. Sure, he and Jordan had been dating for a year now but they never talked about the future. And they surely never talked about Eve calling him something other than uncle. He swallowed hard, suddenly needing to get out of there. He turned and came face to face with a opened mouth Jordan. "I..." He pushed passed her and into the living room where he sat on the edge of the couch and quickly pulled on his black combat boots. He laced them up, silently, with trembling fingers. Unaware that Jordan had followed him.

"Nige..." Jordan began but stopped seeing him pulling on his boots. She eyed the clock and frowned. Neither of them needed to be at work for another hour and a half so where was he going? Suddenly, Jordan felt panicked. 'Nigel was leaving!' Her mind screamed. Eve had pushed him with calling him daddy. They had never talked about their relationship taking the next step but she had always figured that it would. He was practically living with them now and only went to his apartment when he needed a change of clothes and to water the two house plants that Lily and Bug had bought him a few years back as a thank you for watching the twins. "Don't go!" She blurted out. "I'm sure she didn't mean it. It must have just slipped out." She was trembling now and fighting back the tears that were burning the inside of her eye lids. "Please." She whispered.

He finished lacing up one boot and started on the other. Once he finished that one he stood and began to gather the folders that he had brought home with him the previous night. He was working on the O'Dell case and couldn't find the cause of death so he asked Jordan to help him out. Whenever he needed help, he just brought what he could home and Jordan would help him. He was listening to her as he was gathering the pictures off the coffee table and shoving them into the folder already in his hand. "I...I just remembered that I have a meeting this morning. Garrett hates when I'm late, love." Nigel mumbled as he felt his heart twist with her last words. 'She didn't mean it. It must have just slipped out.' He repeated to himself. That's what he was afraid of. He wanted Eve to willingly call him daddy and not because she let the word slip, not knowing. "Enjoy breakfast." He said as he pulled his black, leather, jacket out of the hallway closet and flung it over his arm. Then he pulled the front door open and exited. It closed behind him with a click.

Eve had joined the two adults in the living room without them knowing it. She was confused by their words and actions. And even more confused when Nigel left without eating breakfast with them. He always ate breakfast with them. She reached up and tugged on her mothers sleeve. "Unca Nige, don't want ta be daddy?" She questioned, sadly.

The tears were falling when she felt the tug on her sleeve. Looking down into her daughters innocent eyes and hearing that question asked with such sadness, Jordan could do nothing except gather Eve into her arms and hold her. She sobbed into her little girls hair. Nigel had walked out. He just left. There was no meeting. He would have told her last night that he needed to leave early in the morning for a meeting. But he didn't. He lied to get away from her. From them. She felt ill and swallowed back the bile rising in her throat. Nigel had left. She cried even harder.

The little girl just held onto her mother for dear life. Poor little Eve was more confused now than before. But what could she do except try and comfort her mother?

When Nigel got to work, he wasn't in a very good mood. The look on his face must have conveyed that because no one bothered him. Michael, a young intern, had made the mistake of getting in his way and ended up doing the paper work for three backlogged cases. As the day wore on, Nigel began to feel guilty. He should have stayed and talked to Jordan. Instead he took off with an excuse that she'd obviously know was a lie. He had made things worse. By lunch, it had become unbearable so he called Jordan's cell only to get the voice mail so he left a message for her to call him. When she never called he tried again, an hour later, only to find out that her phone had been turned off. He was swamped with the O'Dell autopsy after lunch so he didn't get another chance to call until quitting time. This time, he called her work only to be told that Jordan had called off sick. He was frantic by now and called Eve's daycare and spoke to Headmaster Chancey. Eve hadn't been dropped off at daycare and had been pulled out of the program for the remainder of the month due to a family emergency. When he hung up, Nigel felt a cold dread creep into his stomach. Jordan was running. She was running because of him.

Back to Present Time

The O'Dell case was over. Nigel had finished the last little bit of paper work only moments ago. Another glance at the computer told him that it was past midnight. Nigel felt empty. He had tried Jordan's cell three more times before giving up and burying his nose in paper work that didn't need completed for another three days. Finally, he drug himself out of the building and to his motorcycle that sat parked in a nearby parking lot. He, unconsciously, drove to Jordan's house only to be greeted by darkness. The house was bathed in nothing more than moon light. Swallowing, he dismounted and trudged up the front steps. Taking his key, he opened the front door and entered. It was weird coming home to a quiet house. It was ironic how quickly he got used to being apart of Jordan and Eve's life. Being apart of a family. He walked into Eve's room. The bed wasn't made and the only things missing were several of Eve's dolls that sat on the floor and several outfits from the dresser. Further inspection of the house showed that Jordan had also only taken several outfits with her and nothing else. "Bloody hell." Nigel mumbled as he ran a hand through his short, black hair. There was only two weeks left in the month and the headmaster at Eve's daycare had said that she had been taken out of the program for the remainder of the month. He could only hope that Jordan returned in that time. Sitting down on the foot of the bed, he hung his head and left the dark silence claim him.