Disclaimer: They're not mine

Rating: T or PG-13 for language and violence

Summary: It's 2am. The doorbell rings. A baby is crying. What are you going to do? W/S with GCR moments and a major case

Happy December 25th Everybody! Sorry this is such a late update but, yknow, it was Christmas and I was kinda ill before – basically a lot of stuff came up but I'm back! With a very long, very fluffy (Sara – shield your eyes, my love! You'll be cringing into 2006...) chapter for all you readers and especially you lovely reviewers. I hope you're all having a wonderful time, wherever you are and whoever you're with.

Getting on with the thank-yous though; since it's Christmas and I took so long to update, I've left ya all a message. Though, whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is up to you... Thanks to nick55 (and I am still reading The Coveted, by the way, it's still just excellent as ever) Joyce3 (I'm reading Better Memories now and formulating a follow-up chapter to your excellent addition to The Underdog), Megara1 (I'm sorry, Cecile – it's just how I wrote it. The next thing I write will have none of that kinda stuff, I promise.), CatStokes (and I love you too...), Kelly (well, wait no longer!), JennCorinthos (if that little bit of fluff got you, wait for this overload), Stephanie (the pairings are epic, aren't they:p), Aleja21 (Sure Grams is still around! I wouldn't kill her off!), charmed1818 (that's fine, review whenever you feel like it!), Review1234 (I'll talk to you at length about everything at some point, so no special personal message right now... Although, this kinda is one...), icklebitodd (Hell, I don't know what his favourite toy is! An old Snoopy toy that used to belong to Warrick?), Braelyn (Thanks – getting characterisation right is really important to me), Cindy Ryan (just...thanks!), MissyJane (How soon is now? – to quote The Smiths), Krys33 (thanks so much! That's a lot to catch up on!) and Manic Penguin (By subject matter, do you mean the whole rape thing? If you do, then I apologise. Megara had the same feelings about it – it was just how I wrote it and didn't intend for it to be offensive, if it was.) Anyway, this chapter is already long enough without me talking for even longer, so I'll shut up and let you read. If you're still awake by the end, it's home-made mince pies all round. Enjoy! Love LJ xXx

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Wake The Hope. Chapter Twenty. Early Morning

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"There is no happiness; there are only moments of happiness."

SPANISH PROVERB

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A shrill wailing wakes them both at two o'clock in the morning. Warrick opens his eyes to the shaking baby monitor on Sara's nightstand and feels her stir under his arm. She makes to drag herself out of the warm bed without even opening her eyes but he gently grabs her and pulls her back.

"I've got it," he whispers in her ear, kissing her neck just below it before he clambers out of bed. "Go back to sleep; I've got it."

Sara sniffs appreciatively, rolling back under the covers and giving a short laugh. "Good luck." she mutters sarcastically and he grins; they both knew that if Nate woke up at any time after 1am, he'd be inconsolable and often cried for an hour before falling asleep again.

"Hey...hey, little guy." Warrick wanders into the nursery room and shuts the door, picking up the struggling baby and rocking him. "What's up, Nate? You hungry? You need changing?" Warrick checks the baby over but nothing's the matter and Warrick gets the feeling that this is just going to be one of those nights in which Nate decides nobody's going to sleep.

In the bedroom, Sara tugs the pillow over her head and drifts back off into a sporadic sleep as Nate's cries, though quieter, still resonate through the two-way monitor. After ten minutes of solid crying from Nate, Warrick begins to get desperate and, racking his brains for anything at all that might comfort him, inspiration hits in the form of a memory. He remembers Nate's liking of the jazz radio station whilst in the car to Desert Palms and, clearing his sleep-hoarse throat, attempts the first few notes.

"Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you..." Warrick sings in a low voice, slowly rocking the wailing baby. At first, Nate is not much pleased by the unsteady tune that wavers from Warrick's tired voice but Warrick, nevertheless, soldiers on.

"Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you..." Warrick's deep and throaty voice begins to calm the baby who reduces his unbroken howl to occasional whines and sniffs. His soothing voice reverberates lavishly down the monitor and Sara, half-waking, props herself up in bed by her elbow.

"But in your dreams, whatever they be..." Warrick goes on, looking down with a smile to see Nate unscrew his face and stare up at him with his round brown eyes. He can't believe he never thought of this before.

"...dream a little dream of me..." Warrick croons and then finds himself launching softly into the trumpet solo. Nate is lulled to sleep by the end of the solo and, laying him gently back into the cradle, Warrick tucks the blanket around the little baby.

"Dream a little dream of me," Warrick finishes, not being one to cut a legendary song off. In the blissful hush that follows, he suddenly notices another sound and he leans his ear close to the two-way baby monitor to listen to Sara's soft snickering through the speaker. A smirk spreads itself across his lips and he bends close to the monitor.

Warrick moves his mouth right to where the receptor of the baby monitor is and says in his best stern voice: "I hope you weren't laughing at me, Ms Sidle."

Sara laughs out loud, surprised and tickled by his sudden reprimand. He hears her laugh echo down the monitor and resound from the other room. It brings a smile to his face and he can't repress a chuckle as he pauses, waiting for her response. Instead, he hears her footsteps pad out of the bedroom and turns to see the door being noiselessly pushed open. She greets him with a gorgeous, sleepy smile – tousled hair and tired eyes.

"That was real beautiful, Warrick. I never knew you were so talented," she says with a grin. She moves automatically to the side of Nate's crib and gazes down at the sleeping baby, reaching down her arm and stroking Nate's face with one slender hand.

"I don't know how you did it," she muses aside to Warrick, reluctantly pulling her gaze away from Nate. "He usually goes on until morning."

Warrick smiles and shrugs his shoulders. "I guess that'd make me a natural," he answers smoothly.

"Shh – not so loud," she warns him in gentle tones, glancing back into the cot.

"It's okay; I can always sing him back to sleep again," he quips. Sara stifles a yawn and rubs her eyes.

"Huh, how about you sing me to sleep, Mr Brown?" she teases. Warrick responds with a mischievous smile and slides his arms around her waist.

"That is a very good idea. You should get to bed if you want to work the dayshift today," he tells her before picking her up. Sara hoots with laughter before remembering their sleeping baby.

"Shh! Shh – quiet, remember?"

"Oh – sorry." Warrick sways with her in his arms as he carries her out of the room and down the hall – and he sings. "Stars shining bright above you..."

Sara giggles into his broad shoulder, her hands clasped around his neck. He pretends to ignore her laughter and carries on, louder and with more melodrama.

"...night breezes seem to whisper 'I love you'..."

"Warrick, I don't see how this is going to help me sleep," she mutters into his ear, looking amused. He turns to face her with eyes that sparkle and lips that twitch in a smile.

"Ah, well – those weren't exactly my full intentions," he confesses playfully and studies her face before adding seriously, "I promise I'll be gentle. You don't have to – "

"It's fine, 'Rick." she cuts him off affectionately and, with one hand on the side of his face, presses a light kiss to his cheek. "You carry on."

He grins and resumes with the song, "Birds singing in the sycamore trees..."

Sara only smiles, thinking about how she can feel the tremor of his throat through the skin of his neck around which she is clinging; she can feel it as an irregular mellow buzz against her forearms, more so when he hits the bass notes. He nudges her bedroom door open with one bare foot and shuts it quietly behind them before laying her onto the bed.

"Dream a little dream of me."

-

It is morning. Sara unwraps her left leg from around both of his and carefully, so not to wake him, moves Warrick's arm off her shoulders as she shuffles slowly off the bed. She pauses for a moment and looks at him with a fond smile, sprawled sleeping on her bed – who'd have thought? – before finding herself something to wear and venturing out of the room to check on Nate.

Warrick wakes in the empty bed a while later and, pulling on a t shirt and boxer shorts, stumbles out of bed. He finds Sara in the open plan kitchen, staring across the counter, out through the french windows in the facing wall. Nate is patiently waiting in his play pen for his breakfast, a bottle of milk which has already been heated and is standing on the counter just in front of Sara, though she is miles away.

"Sara?" Warrick stops in the hallway.

She doesn't take her eyes away from the window but gestures for him to join her.

"Come here," she murmurs. "Come and look at this."

He arrives by her side and looks out of the windows. A magnificent orange and pink-streaked sunrise across the city rooftops spreads across the sky and fills the living room with a warming glow. He doesn't quite know what to say.

"I know it's a cliché," she says distantly. "But I like to just stop and watch it whenever I work days."

"It's beautiful," Warrick tells her, finding his voice.

"I know."

They stand for a moment, staring across the skyline and saying nothing before he turns to her.

"And what do you think about when you stand here in the mornings?" he asks, snaking his arm around her waist. She turns to him with a slight cheeky smile.

"I like to think of all those people out there who might be waking up about now," she says. "Hung-over and unwittingly married to some complete stranger."

Warrick laughs and shakes his head. "You really are something." Remembering, he goes to his jacket and pulls out a bunch of keys, picking one out and handing it to her. "Sara, I know it's kind of soon – but I've known you for years and anyway you'll need more space for Nate so I was wondering if, perhaps, you'd like to move in with me."

"You serious?" she asks, looking at the key in her hand.

Warrick shrugs his shoulders. "Well, yeah. If you want to..."

She grins and, leaning up to him, kisses him. With eyes still closed and lips still locked, she feels blindly around the kitchen worktop until her hand grasps Nate's bottle and she puts it into Warrick's hands as she pulls back.

"Mmm – feed the baby," she chirps. "I'm going to take a shower."

And she skips lightly out to the bathroom, bare feet on cold kitchen tiles, leaving Warrick to gaze warmly after her. He looks at the bottle in his hand and looks at Nate.

"Come on then, little guy." he says, picking up the baby. "Breakfast."

-

Minutes later, with baby sick down Nate's baby-gro and on most of Warrick, Warrick raises an eyebrow at the child and shakes his head.

"You did that on purpose," Warrick mutters to Nate and wrinkles his nose at the smell. "Right – what are we going to do about this?" And carries Nate off towards the bathroom.

The door is open and water running inside so Warrick enters, seeing Sara's outline through the fogged-up glass of the shower cubicle.

"Can we join you?" he calls above the splatter of water in the shower. "The little guy chucked up on us both." Warrick hears her laugh cheerfully.

"Sure, come on in – did he get any on the floor?" Sara asks as Warrick tugs Nate's puked-on baby-gro off and takes off his own clothes.

"Nope, just mainly on me." he answers, glancing down at his soiled t-shirt, lightly amused; he can't help but smile at Nate's innocent wide-eyed face that seems to know exactly what he's done.

"Oh well, that's ok then." Sara chirps cheerily and turns down the heat of the water as Warrick steps into the shower cubicle with Nate in his arms.

"Hey baby," Sara greet with loving delight and strokes Nate's face gently.

"Hello Sara," Warrick replies, smirking cheekily. She looks away from her baby boy only briefly to poke her tongue out at him.

"So I hear you spit up all your breakfast onto your Daddy, baby Nate." Sara murmurs brightly to Nate who smiles, from Warrick's arms, at the familiar face; it raises a broad smile on her own face too before she turns to Warrick, her expression having flipped to concern as he hands her the bottle of baby shampoo.

"That's three times this week, you know, do you think he might be sick?" she asks him, worried.

"No, no – don't worry. This is what babies do, right? He eats enough and keeps enough down anyway," Warrick reassures her. "He's alright." But she only sighs and shakes her head, rubbing shampoo into Nate's soft hair with a troubled frown darkening her face.

"I'm no good at this," she states, voicing what's been one of her main concerns lately. Warrick protests this, shaking his own head vehemently.

"Are you kidding me? That's not right at all," Warrick answers, immediately. "You slipped so easily into this role. I bet you never thought you'd fit it just so perfectly, to be honest, I didn't think you would, but you do. I don't think Nate could be happier with anybody else."

Sara says nothing for a while, listening to the water run off them both.

"Thank you." she says, finally, smiling softly up at Warrick.

"It's only true." he shrugs. "Everything I said yesterday – I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it sound as though you weren't doing a good job at this. You really are; you're wonderful. And if you want to adopt Nate, I'll be with you all the way on this."

Sara smiles. "Thank you," she repeats and then finds the apology that had been repressed in her, "And I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been so rude to you. I'm surprised you came back at all."

"Yeah, I know," he grins. "It's fine, Sara – it's understandable." Sara nods and smiles, passing back the baby shampoo to Warrick.

"Hey...watch out..." Sara automatically reaches up her hand and wipes away the shampoo threatening to run into Nate's large brown eyes. Nate turns to her, smiles at the attention and reaches his small arms out to Sara.

"See? He couldn't be happier." Warrick passes Nate across. "There you go, little man. You hang onto your Mommy for a while. I gotta wash the puke out of my hair."

Sara giggles and cradles baby Nate whilst he explores her facial features with his small hands, hooking his tiny fingers onto her lower lip. She beams, making faces at the baby and kissing his little hands until he starts to chortle. Warrick lathers his hair in shampoo and contentedly considers the situation. This is where, he registers with small surprise, he always wants to be. In the steam-filled shower cubicle with both Nate and Sara's laughter echoing off the clean bathroom tiles, Warrick almost forgets case they're both involved in and doesn't even give a thought to the handcuffed Tom Redley somewhere in the city, waiting to be questioned.

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