It was Thanksgiving again, and this year, the detectives were having their dinner at Goren's. The turkey was in the oven and they were relaxing for a while. Logan and Barek were sitting at the table playing rummy. Goren was lying on the couch, with Maggie sitting on his chest, smiling at him. She was six-and-a-half months old and a happy little girl. Eames sat in the easy chair across from them, watching them with a smile. She loved how he was with her. He gently poked the baby in the belly and she giggled. Eames had never seen him so content as when he played with Maggie. He lifted her up above his head, making soft airplane sounds and she giggled some more. When she began to yawn, he lowered her onto his chest, where she snuggled against his shoulder and buried her chubby little hand in his hair. She'd started doing that when she was about four months old; she loved his hair. She was soon sleeping.
Logan got up and went into the kitchen when the oven timer went off. Eames gently took the baby and put her in her crib back in the bedroom. She watched the baby sleeping, reflecting sadly that she spent more time in this crib and the one at her dad's than she did at home.
Goren poked his head into the room and started to say something. The words were lost in his throat when he saw the look on her face. He looked thoughtful for a moment, trying to decide whether to say what was on his mind or not. She knew that look. "Go ahead and say it."
"Say what?"
"How I have made a royal mess of my life."
"Do you think that?"
"Don't you?"
"I don't have to live your life, Eames."
"Oh, bullshit, Bobby. You can't hide from me, so don't even try. I see what you're thinking every night when I go home."
"You're getting depressed, and that's not good."
"It'll pass."
"Do you believe that? I remember when you told me Ricky would get over us."
"Do you ever forget anything?"
"Not when it matters."
She looked at him. "And what matters, Bobby?"
"I don't have to answer that. If you don't know by now, you never will."
He left the room, but she caught him in the hall. "Don't withdraw from me, please."
"I won't. I'm here if you ever need me. You know that. It's the lot I cast for myself, and it's not going to change, unless you change it. Dinner's ready."
She let him go, following after him after a few moments. When the table was ready they sat down to eat. Logan picked up the wine bottle and grinned. "No cider this year."
Eames sat in a recliner in her father's living room. It was Christmas Eve and Ricky was working. So she'd invited Goren to spend the evening with them. Maggie had just figured out she could move about on her hands and knees, but more often than not she moved in the opposite direction that she wanted to go. So she would sit and think about it. Eames was amazed that she never got frustrated or angry. She just kept trying until she figured it out. Goren was on the floor with the baby and John was sitting in his chair in the corner, reading the paper and covertly watching the game on the floor. Eames loved listening to the baby laugh. She never laughed at home.
Goren was on his stomach, and Maggie was on her hands and knees. He growled at her, and she growled back at him and giggled. So he inched closer to her, and she pushed herself backwards, away from him, laughing. She dropped to her stomach, reaching out toward him, growling, and he backed away, and they would both laugh. Eames never got tired of watching the baby play with him. Maggie was the one person who always brought joy and never pain to her partner's heart.
When Eames took the baby to get ready for bed, her father and her partner sat in the living room. John set his newspaper aside. "Tell me something, Bobby." Goren looked at him and he continued, "You are closer to Alex than anyone is. You understand her and you know what's going on in her life. Why do you put up with it?"
"What else can I do?"
"If anyone could convince her to leave Ricky…"
Goren shook his head. "No, sir. I'm not playing that game. I hate that she's unhappy, and I hate the way he treats her and ignores Maggie. But if I interfere, she'll end up resenting me. You know how stubborn she is. She's set it in her mind that she made this commitment and she's going to follow through with it. As much as I hate how things are, it would be much worse for me to lose her entirely."
"I don't think that would happen. Do you honestly have no idea how important you are to her?"
"I know. But this has to be her decision. No one else can make it for her."
John picked up the paper and folded it over and then over again. "I do know how stubborn she can be." He was thoughtful for a moment. "How much are you going to let her put up with?"
"What do you mean?"
"There has to be a point at which you'll finally react."
"He's an ass, and he has no idea how to treat her. He has driven a wedge between them that will never go away. But he's never hit her, and he's never hurt Maggie. I would rather he ignore her than take out his anger on her. That would be something I could never forgive. But that's why she never leaves the baby with him, never gives him a chance to hurt her."
"Do you know that she's protecting you, too?"
Goren nodded. "Whether I like it or not, he's a fellow officer. I would go to prison for her, but that wouldn't do her or Maggie any good." He shifted in his chair. "She made me promise I would never go after him."
John finally nodded. That was the explanation he had been seeking. "I thought as much. Have you ever thought that maybe you love my daughter too much?"
"No." That thought had never even crossed his mind.