He was acutely aware of his wife's body draped over his when he woke. He kissed her head and brought one hand up to fondle her hair while his other hand caressed her bare skin. Moaning softly, she turned her face up toward his. He covered her mouth with his, probing hungrily with his tongue while his hands acted with a mind of their own. She arched toward him and he responded. But he wasn't so far gone that he did not hear the door open. With a soft groan of frustration, he rolled onto his back and looked at Maggie. She smiled. "Was you wrestlin'?"

He laughed. "Why are you up?"

"I gotta go to Your Honor's court today."

"Yes, you do, but not for another four hours."

"But you still gotta get Tommy up and get me my waffles."

"Okay, mouse. Go put on the dress Mommy set out for you and I'll be right there."

"Okay, Daddy."

She closed the door behind her and Eames' voice hissed in his ear. "Now...where were we?"

"Someplace we can't go back to right now. I need to make waffles."

"Three minutes in a toaster...I think you have time." She was kissing and nibbling at his ear. He groaned. "Alex..." Her tongue traced the outside of his ear, intermittently nipping and further crumbling his resolve. When her tongue hit the hollow behind his earlobe, he gave up and turned into her, giving her exactly what she wanted. In the back of his mind, a feeble protest began to form, but it vanished before it ever materialized into a thought.

A midwinter snowstorm had moved in during the night. When Goren got to the dining area, he saw that Maggie had climbed into her booster seat and was waiting for him. He studied her for a moment. Something wasn't quite right..."Mouse, your dress is on backwards."

"I couldn' reach the zipper."

"That's a good reason."

When he turned toward the kitchen, he stopped. A three foot high pile of books leaned against the refrigerator with a smaller pile in front of it. On the counter sat a box of strawberry waffles and a bottle of syrup. The milk carton was on its side between the syrup and a coffee filter filled with coffee grounds that had spilled over onto the floor. The coffee can, uncovered, was next to the sink where another stack of books leaned against the cabinets. He looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow at her. She smiled. "I he'ped."

"So I see. Let me guess. You took the books from the bookcase in the living room."

"Jus' what I can reach."

He uprighted the milk before he picked up the books from in front of the refrigerator and returned them to their place, doing the same with the pile in front of the sink. Maggie watched him. He returned to the kitchen, pouring half the coffee grounds back in the container and setting up the coffee maker. Flipping it on, he proceeded to wipe up the milk that had dribbled from the carton and he began making breakfast. "Did I do good, Daddy?"

"You did great, mouse. But next time, let Mommy or me take care of it."

"Okay, Daddy."

Eames came down the hall with the baby and put him in his high chair. Goren handed her a slice of buttered toast when she came into the kitchen, and she gave it to Tommy. She stepped to his side and he muttered, "Maggie tried to help."

"Is that why there are coffee grounds all over the floor?"

"Uh, yes, that would be why."

He handed her two plates, following her out of the kitchen with another plate and a bowl of shredded waffle for Tommy. After breakfast, Eames took Maggie to get ready while Goren cleaned Tommy up and dressed him. He set the baby down on the floor and he crawled to the coffee table, pulling himself up to stand. He was taking his time about independent walking, but he was almost there. Maggie came running out of the bedroom. "How do I look, Daddy?"

He swung her up into a hug. "Beautiful."

He kissed her cheek and set her on the ground. Eames gave him a shove toward the bedroom. "Go get dressed. We have to leave soon."

After a quick shower, he put on his suit and headed to the living room, draping his jacket over a chair back and finishing with his tie. He swallowed down the cold coffee left in his cup and set it in the sink, placing a kiss on the back of his wife's head. "I would have cleaned it up."

"I know you would have. Ready?"

"Not really, but I guess I have no choice."

She turned to face him. "She going to do fine."

"With Carver, yeah. But what about Shaeffer?"

"Judge Burrows will keep him in line. That's his job."

"I don't like Nicole being there, either."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that. We have to trust the judge and Carver." He sighed and leaned back against the counter. She gave him a hug and rested her head against his chest. "I know it's hard. We'll be there. She can't hurt her."

"Nicole has done a lot of things she wasn't supposed to have been able to do."

Leaning up, she kissed him. "Not this time. Now come on. We don't want to be late."

"I don't want to go at all."

She laughed and slid her hand into his. "Let's go."

In the living room, he pulled his jacket on and went to the closet. He smiled when her hands came to rest against his back. Handing her the baby's snowsuit and her coat, he pulled Maggie's jacket and his overcoat from their hangers and closed the door. "Come on, mouse."

She hopped over to him and slid her arms into her jacket. He squatted in front of her, zipped it, pulled her hood on and tied it under her chin. He gave her a kiss and she hugged him. "Are we gonna see Your Honor now?"

"Yes," he replied, trying to keep his apprehension from his voice. Standing, he pretended to sneak up on Tom, grabbing him and lifting him up over his head. The baby squealed happily and giggled. He pulled him to his chest and kissed his cheek. "Dada."

Tapping Tom's nose gently, he replied, "Tommy." Another giggle. "How'd this kid get to be so happy?"

"I gave up trying to answer that a long time ago. Just be glad he is."

"I thought Maggie was easy-going."

"With you, she always was."

He pulled the front door open, waiting for his girls to head out into the hall. Eames stopped and, sliding a hand behind his neck, pulled him closer for a gentle kiss. "Try not to worry."

He just sighed and followed her out the door, pulling it shut behind him and locking the deadbolt. He felt a lot like Daniel, walking into the lion's den...or, more accurately, a fly wandering into the spider's lair.

Mike Logan was pacing outside the courtroom, waiting and watching. He felt like a predator, waiting for its prey. Ah, there he was. With a small smile, he approached Bernard Shaeffer. "Mr. Shaeffer," he said as he approached and held out his hand. "Mike Logan, Major Case Squad. I work with Goren and Eames. I'd like to have a word with you."

"I'd really love to chat, detective, but I have to be in court..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It'll only take a minute." Draping a friendly arm over the lawyer's shoulders, he guided him to a bench and, applying pressure, forced him to sit. He sat beside him. "Let me start by saying that I once punched a councilman right out there, on the steps of this courthouse. Now if I'd punch a councilman, I would never even give a second thought to taking down a lawyer. That being said, let me remind you there are a bunch of us scheduled to testify today...me, John Eames, Goren and Eames...so it'll probably be this afternoon before Carver calls Maggie Goren to testify. I just wanted to give you a friendly warning. That little girl is very near and dear to her father's heart, and you've seen Bobby Goren. He's not a small man. So I'd take care not to upset him by upsetting his little girl. But Goren aside, that little girl is very near and dear to my heart. So, if I were you, I'd choose my words and my tone very carefully. Because if you upset her, you'll have the two of us to deal with, and like I said, I'm not afraid of knocking you to kingdom come. So you treat that little girl right up there. You got me?"

Shaeffer studied Logan's face and he had no doubt that he was dead serious. He nodded mutely, pulled at his bow tie and, getting up, scurried into the courtroom. Logan was reminded of a rat, scrambling for cover. "Asshole," he muttered.

"Uncle Mike!"

He turned toward the happy shout and held his arms out. "Hey, bunny!"

She jumped into his arms and hugged him. "You needa come over t'morrow and take us to the park!"

"I think I can manage that." He kissed her cheek. "Look how dressed up you are!"

"I gotta...um..." She looked over her shoulder. "What's that word, Daddy?"

"Testify."

"Yeah, that. I gotta testyfly in Your Honor's courtroom today."

He smiled. "You know what?"

"What?"

"I gotta testify, too."

"Really? Mommy and Daddy hafta."

"And Grandpa does, too."

She smiled, but her smile faded as she remembered and said, "But the mean lady's gonna be there."

"Don't even worry about her, bunny. Mommy, Daddy and I will all be there. I promise, she's not going to hurt you. We won't let her."

"Your Honor telled me I can look at him or Mr. Carver if I want to."

"Absolutely. Whatever you need to do to say what you have to say. The judge will watch out for you, too. So don't you worry about that lady."

She slid off his lap and slid her hand into her father's. Eames asked, "Where's Carolyn?"

"Deakins needed her to do a followup on something for this case we've got. She's gonna try to get back in time for Maggie's testimony."

They headed into the courtroom, choosing seats at the back of the room. They didn't want Maggie to notice Wallace any sooner than she had to. It was going to be a long day.