Lombardo was sitting in the kitchen drinking his 4th cup of coffee already. Walsh and Taylor had each just sat down. Taylor was drinking a glass of milk.

"What is that like your 3rd cup of coffee?" Walsh asked as he poured one of his own

"Fourth." Lombardo said dryly

"What the kid keeping you up all night still?" Walsh asked

"Kid's 9 months old and cries all night long. I figure I gotta get up and take care of him since Linda carried him for 9 months." Lombardo said

"Yeah, but you gotta get some sleep too." Taylor said as she sat down

"Look who's talking" Lombardo said referring to how worn down Taylor became while searching for her father.

"You can't keep going like this Joe." Taylor tried to reason, "Take a few weeks off- we all know you got the time to do it."

"Yeah, but we're still short staffed." Lombardo argued

"Just think about it would ya? You need to get the rest." Taylor almost pleaded with him

Walsh nodded in agreement. Lombardo was clearly getting run down from working and then taking care of his little boy. He was right, Lombardo family tradition struck again. It was a boy. It was September 24th when he became a father- 3 days after they had found their comrade Tommy Doyle in the remains of the World Trade Center. Lombardo didn't break the family tradition of naming his first son Joseph, but he did honor Tommy by naming him Joseph Thomas Lombardo. He thought it was a good firefighter's name; hopefully it would be the fourth generation of firefighters in the Lombardo family.

Lombardo poured a fifth cup.

"Easy there, you're going to get the shakes from a caffeine overload." Taylor said

"Sorry, I just feel like I need it." Lombardo replied

"No wonder you're up all night, you drink too much coffee. Try some juice." Walsh added

Lombardo laughed as he pushed the coffee cup aside and took the glass of Orange juice that Walsh had poured for him.

"Thanks." Lombardo said

"Anytime." Walsh smiled

They sat for a while, just chatting about anything and everything. Lombardo was sharing the experiences that he had experienced so far being a father. Talk about the proud father. Of course everyone on the squad was like part of the family and they had been to the apartment to see him. Linda would occasionally bring him by the firehouse. He had already had pictures taken with a fire truck. Everyone was actually surprised that little Joe was born without bunker gear. Taylor and Walsh laughed about the first time they had been to the apartment to see him.

"Hey guys come on in." Lombardo said as he opened the door

"Brought a present for the new addition." Walsh said

"Thanks." Lombardo replied as he opened the bag that Taylor had handed him

Inside was a cute little fire truck bank.

"Figured it beat having a plain old Piggy Bank." Taylor smiled

"Yeah. Thank you." Lombardo said

Linda walked out into the living room; she had just finished changing him. "Joe hasn't quite mastered diapers yet." She laughed

"Can't or won't?" Taylor asked

"I think it's more of the won't." Linda said

"It's not the I won't." Lombardo attempted to defend himself, "It's just hard, he's so small."

"Come on, give the lady a break and learn to change a diaper." Walsh laughed

"I know you guys didn't come here to just talk about diapers." Lombardo said as he led them back the hall to the room they had made the nursery.

Taylor looked around at the room's light blue painted walls, and the fire truck border strip. There were cute little bears, and firefighters, and anything that you could possibly want for a fire truck nursery. Then there was the little crib, with it's fire truck bedding. And in it little Joe was tucked in. He was kicking his feet around, still fussing from his diaper being changed.

Lombardo picked him up and held him. There was a huge smile on his face.

"Want to hold him?" Lombardo asked

Taylor quickly jumped at the opportunity.

"Sure." She said as she held out her arms to accept the little baby

She bounced him softly and whispered and made little noises to him. He quickly settled down and reached out his tiny little hands.

"They're so tiny." Taylor smiled

Walsh stood back and watched Taylor interacting with him.

"She's gonna make a great mother some day." Lombardo said

"Yeah." Walsh smiled

After a short time they all decided that they needed to get up and do something. Taylor had gone up to clean out her locker while Walsh and Lombardo moved to the lounge.

"So tell me something." Lombardo said

"Sure." Walsh replied

"What's the story with you and Taylor?" Lombardo had been wondering this for months but could never find the right time to ask about it

"We're friends." Walsh said in reply

"You two sure do spend a lot of time together to be just friends." Lombardo responded

"I'm trying to help her through the death of her father. Remember that didn't just effect her, he was my mentor." Walsh said

"Sorry to bring up a sore subject, but it started long before that." Lombardo pointed out

Walsh knew deep down that they were busted, but he tried not to let it bother him.

"You can be honest with me, I won't tell anyone." Lombardo said

Walsh looked around quickly to make sure they were the only ones in the room.

"Okay, Taylor and I have been seeing each other for a while now. About a year and a half or so. We just didn't want anyone to know." Walsh admitted

"That's cool." Lombardo said, happy to see that Walsh had found a steady relationship with a great woman.

"We've just trying to be quiet about it. Didn't want anyone to know really." Walsh admitted

It wasn't that they were ashamed or scared; they just didn't want the guys to interfere in their relationship. It was easier that way. And it was also kind of fun for them to keep the secret.

"Your secret's safe with me." Lombardo told Walsh

"Thanks, cuz Taylor'd kill me if she knew that I told you." Walsh smiled

Lombardo sat his coffee cup down on the table.

"Alright, I think I am going to go and try to take a nap or something." He said

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Walsh told him

Walsh picked up the newspaper and began to look through it. It was part of his morning routine to read the paper, so he figured he'd take the chance to catch up. Taylor returned to the kitchen and sat with him again.

"Okay, so what's up?" She asked him

"What do you mean?" He asked

"You have that look, something's up." Taylor said

"Nothing's up baby." He defended himself

"Something's definitely up." Taylor was adamant

Lieutenant Johnson walked into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee.

"What's up?" He asked

"Nothing." Walsh replied

"Then why does Taylor keep asking?" He asked

"Because it's Taylor…" Walsh said in reply

"You have that look." Taylor argued

"Okay, Taylor, he says nothing's up so I believe him." Lt. Johnson smiled

"Thank you!" Walsh said

Taylor scowled and sat at the table pretending to pout. Lt. Johnson laughed as he poured his coffee and went back to his office.

"Stop pouting." Walsh said

"I'm not pouting." Taylor replied

"You are too." Walsh said

"Am not." Taylor mocked

Lombardo walked back into the room.

"I am surrounded by 3 year olds." He said as he grabbed a bottle of water.

Taylor and Walsh looked at each other and laughed as Lombardo left the room shaking his head.

"Am not." Taylor said again

"Are too…" Walsh responded