A/N - I hate letting go of stories…so I procrastinate. And this one has been very close to my heart over the last several weeks in ways that have absolutely nothing to do with the main story line… if that makes any sense at all, lol! Personal emotions getting thrown into a totally unrelated fanfic, so ending it has been hard. Meh. My apologies, especially to Roslyn918…hope the wait wasn't too torturous, and that it was worth it! Ciao!

- Kate

Breakable

Having Danny home eased Jordan into a sense of happiness that had been eluding her for the past several weeks. No longer going to bed alone, ordering meals for one from their favorite take-out place, or sitting up in a quiet apartment when her work followed her home, she found herself craving his presence. Best of all, she no longer carried the knowledge of their baby all by herself. Danny treated her like a queen, almost to the point where her independent side felt threatened…until she told that side of her to shut up and enjoy the ride.

Telling others about her pregnancy proved more awkward than she had anticipated. She didn't know what she was afraid of…rejection, fear that she would be seen as fragile? She wasn't entirely sure. But they were going to find out soon enough. So, one day not long after Danny came home, she swallowed her fears and had an informal meeting with Lily, Nigel, Bug, and Sidney and told them. She included Lily only because she knew the others would be slightly hurt if they knew the grief counselor had already known. After breaking the news to them, Jordan got the feeling they thought she was kidding. But once Lily smiled knowingly at her and walked over to give her a hug, reality set in on the rest. They had all been thrilled for her, offering any help that the couple might need in the months ahead.

Garret knew before she even managed to get the words out to tell him. Maybe it was because Danny had decided to go with her, and he had never visited Garret at home since the accident. His presence might have been a huge tip off. Garret smiled at Jordan's surprised look when he guessed her news.

"I've worked with you for how many years, Jordan?" he asked her. "I know you better than you would probably like to think. Congratulations, you two."

"Thanks, Garret," Jordan said, squeezing Danny's hand in hers.

"And I don't want you worrying about work," Garret told her firmly. "Two months from now, I'll be back in the morgue, and I don't want to see you putting in overtime just to prove yourself. Keep your eye on her," he added to Danny.

"I don't how much influence I've got over this girl when it comes to her work," Danny smiled, tightening his hold on Jordan's hand.

"More than you think, I'd bet," Garret said, and Jordan shot him a look that said he was getting too close to the truth of her heart.

At Jordan's apartment a week or so later, Danny had to put Garret's advice to good use as he finally managed to get her to slow down enough for a long overdue talk. He sat down next to her on the bed and slid her laptop away from her, despite her protests that she was finishing up a report.

"Jordan, we need to talk," he said, trying to keep his tone light at the look of concern in her eyes. "I know you've been avoiding this, maybe because you don't want to have to think about change, but…"

"This apartment isn't exactly the best place to be raising a child," Jordan ventured, and Danny nodded. She sighed and looked down at her hands. "I know. I guess I have been avoiding thinking about it. But we need to start planning on finding another place…here, or in Vegas," she added carefully.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," he said, reaching out to take one of her hands. "I talked to Ed the other day…he's been talking about retiring. I don't really have any family left out there, and once Ed leaves the casino I won't feel so obligated to stay there. I know how much Boston means to you…"

Jordan stared at him slightly wide eyed. Danny had been right – she had been trying not to think of possibly having to leave Boston. Things had changed so much since she had decided to fly to Vegas, and the thought of leaving again was hard to cope with. Gently, she placed a hand against his cheek and looked into his eyes.

"You'd stay here for me?" she asked almost disbelievingly.

"Of course," he answered, smiling at her in the way that melted her heart.

"What'll you do for a job?"

"I had Ed put in a few calls to the head of security at Chancellor Square," Danny told her with a smile, and she laughed.

"Did they remember your heroic actions saving the Ambassador of China?" she inquired jokingly.

"Hopefully not," he chuckled. "But they did offer me a nice position there."

Brushing her thumb against his cheek, Jordan leaned in to kiss him softly. Danny brought his hands up to lace his fingers into the dark waves of her hair, caressing her lips with his.

"I love you so much, Jordan," he whispered against her lips. "I'll do anything to make you happy."

"Oh yeah?" she arched an eyebrow suggestively, eliciting a lusty chuckle from him.

"Yeah," he replied, easing her back against the pillows. "Starting with making you my wife as soon as possible."

Danny was true to his word. One month later, they had a small, private ceremony that officially made Jordan Mrs. Danny McCoy. He could not take his eyes off of her that day, thrilling in the look of happiness on her face. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined marrying a woman like her, but now he couldn't see it any other way.

They decided to stall a honeymoon in order to settle down in a house once Danny's position in the security department at Chancellor Square became finalized. It didn't take them long to find a quaint house just outside the city. The moment Jordan set foot on the property, she knew – she could see their future inside that house. And so she said goodbye to Pearl Street, but only with a small amount of regret, to start a life she hadn't thought attainable.

Jordan didn't see Woody for months. She heard through the rumor mill that he had accepted a spot in a law enforcement intensive in Washington, hoping to advance his career. She did not expect to work with him again for a while. It surprised her, then, when there was a knock at her door in the afternoon one day, and Woody walked into her office. There was less regret in his face than the last time she had seen him, and he looked more at peace with himself.

"Hey," she said, standing up out of instinct. She caught his quick glance at her seven months pregnant frame and hoped that he didn't think she had done it on purpose to make him feel bad.

"Hey," he answered her, taking in her new physique. Other than her swollen stomach and the slightest hint of the added curves of pregnancy, no one would have ever guessed she was going to have a baby in two months time. She was still trim as ever and dressed in her typical stylish fashion, opting for the trendier maternity clothes. "You look good."

Jordan rolled her eyes a little and her mouth quirked up on one side.

"Thanks," she said sarcastically.

"No, I'm serious, everything looks…" he trailed off, and she raised her eyebrows at him, "generally…good."

Jordan laughed a little at his horrible attempt at a compliment. She was getting used to men treating her like this – trying so hard to give her a positive compliment, and then scaring themselves into the ground when it came out wrong. Woody uncomfortably glanced down at her desk and his eyes landed on the glass rose from Danny. Jordan had decided to keep it on her desk, a constant reminder of him. She watched Woody finger it gently.

"Danny give you this?" he asked casually.

"Yeah," she answered. "He said it reminded him of me."

Woody smiled a little to himself. "I don't think I would ever look at something made of glass and link it to you."

"Brick walls, maybe?" she asked pointedly. Woody looked up and met her gaze. "I'm not made of glass, Woody…but that doesn't mean I don't break from time to time."

"Is that what I missed in you that he saw? Fragility?" he said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I don't know what you saw or didn't see," Jordan sighed. "Things just…change, I guess."

"Yeah, they sure do," Woody said quietly.

"So are you back for good?" she asked, trying to steer the conversation towards a lighter topic.

"Yeah," he said. "Washington was a good experience, but it was time to come back."

Jordan nodded, and they fell into a stiff silence. Woody glanced up at her, catching her eye.

"Are you happy, Jordan?" he asked her hesitantly.

"Yes," she told him honestly. He nodded resignedly and took a few steps towards the door.

"I guess I'll see you around then."

"Yeah," she smiled softly. "See you around."

Despite the jokes made about her lack of maternal instinct, Jordan had always wanted children. But she never knew the amount of love she was capable of having for another human being until the doctor handed her the pink, wailing bundle that was her son. She didn't think she would ever be able to stop crying from the joy she felt.

Propped up in her hospital bed, Danny right next to her with an arm around her shoulder, she proudly showed off her child to her friends. Lily peered at the sleeping baby with the most enamored expression, while Garret looked at Jordan as though he hadn't quite known her before. Bug and Nigel observed happily, though they didn't hold a candle to Lily's enthusiasm.

"So did you decide on a name?" Garret asked them.

"Yeah, we settled on Norbert," Danny deadpanned. Jordan suppressed the laugh that surfaced in her throat and enjoyed the horrified looks on her friends' faces. They quickly tried to recover and hide their shock at the name.

"Well, that's…" Lily stammered.

"Unique," Bug finished.

"Relax, guys, he's kidding," Jordan smiled, adjusting her arm underneath her son's delicate head. The relief in the room was evident. She glanced up at Danny with a proud smile and then looked back down into the sleepy brown eyes of the infant. "I'd like you to meet Collin McCoy."

There was a moment of calm silence as the name sunk into the minds of everyone present. Small smiles of approval and fondness appeared on their faces.

"Collin McCoy," Lily tried the name out, reaching out a finger to carefully stroke the baby's skin. "It's a good fit."

"It is indeed," Danny said, kissing the top of Jordan's head lightly.

Jordan couldn't remember a time in her life when she had been so happily exhausted. She missed her work, but she would have gladly given it up again if she had it to do over. Everyone visited so much during her maternity leave that she hardly felt cut off from that part of her life. Danny hated having to leave her when he was called back in to work, but his attentiveness when he came home in the evening made up for it. It was a toss up which one of them adored their son more.

Not long after Collin's first birthday, Jordan started feeling the telltale nausea that she once again chalked up to the stomach flu. Nine months later, little Alana McCoy, unplanned, though not unexpected, arrived in the world the spitting image of her mother. Danny joked that if they were always going to have children this beautiful, he didn't see them stopping any time soon.

"The process ain't so bad, either," he added, getting a knowing smile from Jordan.

"Wouldn't want it any other way," she replied contentedly.

And while she would only admit it to herself, a few years ago she had seen her life going a different way. A life that did not include Danny McCoy or two point five children and a house in the suburbs. Not belonging to him, anyway. But Jordan had learned that life was never simple. Life sometimes took you in a direction that you did not want to go. But once she stopped fighting the inevitable, she found in Danny what she realized she could not live without– a love she would not have traded for all the second chances in the world.