Chapter Two:

Tapping her fingers on the counter, Lindsay glanced at the clock above the stove. 10:30. She looked over at Danny who was cleaning up the kitchen quietly, making sure all of the knives and anything else that was potentially dangerous was put away.

She sighed loudly. "So?" She jumped up to sit on the counter top just as Danny moved to lean against the counter opposite her, drying his hands on a towel.

Danny cleared his throat and sighed, pondering silently if it would be wrong of him to down a shot of the aging whiskey in his upper cabinet while his child was in bed sleeping. He shook his head at the thought.

"A'right." He swallowed. "First and foremost, I didn't break up with her when I found out she was pregnant and I didn't cheat on her."

"Melanie?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Second, she's only in my life as Angie's mother so don't get all weird about me communicatin' with 'er."

"Enough with the disclaimers!" That wasn't shouting, she just raised her voice a tiny bit.

"I was 25 and Mel was 27. I'd been datin' 'er for 'bout two and a half years." He licked his lips. "I found out she'd been seeing another guy for 'bout four months while we was still t'gether. She said that she was polygamous and that she was in love with me and in love with him. I couldn't handle that kindsa shit, so I ended it. Call me selfish, but 'ey, that's how life goes."

Lindsay nodded but stayed quiet, listening intently.

"Six months later, I'm hangin' with one o' my buds, we're chattin it up he tells me Mel's knocked up. Call her up, ask 'er if she knows who the dad is. She ain't sure." He took a breath. "When the baby was born, I got a paternity test, baby was mine. Mel let's me see 'er when I got the time. I help pay her rent to keep her from livin in a real bad neighborhood. Angie's full name is Angelina Tambre Rose Messer. So when I say I can't come meet you for lunch sometimes on my days off it's 'cause I'm spendin' time with my other favorite girl."

A moment of silence passed. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Same reason women don't tell the men they're dating about havin' kids. Didn't wanna scare you off the first month or so. Couldn't figure out the best time to tell you after that." He shrugged. Lindsay shook her head and smiled, sliding off the counter top and making her way toward him. She linked her arms around his neck and kissed under his ear.

"I'm not going anywhere." He nodded, turning to kiss her lips, arm wrapping around her waist and bringing her closer. "What'd Mac say?" She muttered against his lips, eyelids drooping.

"Day Care's on the second floor, I'm still on call." Lindsay nodded as she ran her fingers up and down his chest. "You stayin'?"

"Yeah. That way if you get called in, I can take her up there at a more decent hour." Danny cocked an eyebrow. "And because I want to." She smiled, closing the conversation by pressing their lips back together.

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"What d'ya want for breakfast, Angie?" Lindsay looked over and she would have smiled too, if it hadn't been the tramp stamp of dawn and the coffee maker hadn't been so slow.

Angie rubbed her eyes, a big pout on her face from being nudged awake so early in the morning when she wasn't even supposed to go to school. She didn't throw a fit though, and that made both Lindsay and Danny pretty happy. From the sidelines Lindsay watched as Angie lifted her gaze to Danny, pout still present on her small face. He looked away from the slow coffee maker and back at her and Lindsay swore something had melted from the exterior. She watched with great interest.

"Can we go ta' McDonalds, Daddy? Pwease?"

Lindsay knew that Danny didn't like McDonalds, not a lot of adults did. But she, personally, was a sucker for the Deluxe Breakfast, and tiredly thought to herself that this kid was amazingly talented if she could convince him to take them there.

Danny opened his mouth, closed it, and then smiled sleepily.

"Sure, baby."

Lindsay gasped. She didn't really think Danny was the type to fall for a pout. He looked over at her and if it were a few hours later, she would have laughed at him. "Not a word to Don."

"Promise."

"A'right," he turned back to Angie now. "Go put on the clothes I set out for ya and we'll go, capite?"

"Capite!" She nodded and ran back to her room. Thinking about it now, Lindsay understood why he never showed her the second room in the apartment.

"And brush your teeth!" He yelled down as an afterthought, sighing when the coffee maker was finally finished brewing. Lindsay jumped up and went to stand beside him, waiting impatiently.

Danny looked over at her with a smirk, pouring coffee into her awaiting mug. "And what 'bout you, Miss, you brush your teeth?" Lindsay nodded her head vigorously and then smiled wide for him.

"Flossed too. Does that mean I get McDonalds?" He shrugged.

"If you want. I was askin' for my own benefit, though."

"Your own ben-" She was cut off and well aware of the fact that Danny took advantage of the fact that her mouth was still open.

A few minutes later (or seconds, Lindsay couldn't really tell any sort of time anymore after that,) they broke apart. However, not on their accord but thanks to a little girl clearing her throat and saying "Andiamo!"

Lindsay had to ask for a translation.

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"C.O.D. is suffocation. Found skin samples under the vic's fingernails," Sid babbled on.

"So she did put up a fight then?" Stella chewed on the end of a pen after thinking out loud.

"Suffocated with what, do you know?" She asked.

"Well," he said, holding up a finger, "I did find this caught in her throat." Sid handed her the dish and Lindsay held it up close, squinting, finding a small fiber. "I also found some form of medication that had not yet dissolved into her system," he handed Stella a dish now.

"What kind of medication do you think it could be?"

"No clue. That's your job. Now gone with you, I've got Mac's body to work on and he's getting antsy." He shooed them out of the room with his hands.

"To Adam, then?" Lindsay asked as the two women made their way down the hall.

"Adam. You drop these off there, I'm gonna go check with the DNA for those stray hairs."

"Ok." Lindsay did as she was told and then went into her office, figuring that she'd catch up on paper work while Adam worked on the fiber and the semi-digested medicine.

Danny turned from the computer when the door to their office opened and smiled. "Busy mornin'?" She plopped down in her chair and shrugged, tapping her fingers on the file atop her desk.

"Kind of. Heard there was an incident on the second floor." They both smiled.

"Takes her awhile to get used ta' people."

"Got used to me just fine."

"I told her about you." Her eyebrow shot up.

"Oh really?" He nodded, eyes back on the screen. "Why?"

"So she wouldn't get upset when you touched her."

"Is she really that violent?"

"No." He shook his head. "No, she didn't hit anyone or anythin', 'cept that kid that tried ta' kiss 'er. She just said 'don't touch me' and she said it loud an' clear."

"She's reserved."

"Yeah."

"Like you." Lindsay saw a smile creep onto his face again.

"Yeah. Like me."