As the weeks following Christmas had passed, Danny and Lindsay had fallen back into a comfortable routine. They still had awkward moments, but by and large, things were back to the way they were.
They had been assigned a few cases together. The case they were currently working on was really taking its toll on Lindsay. A body had been found in a meat locker at a local super market. It wasn't the body that was getting to her, it was the meat. Immediately upon entering the meat locker, she felt the overwhelming need to be sick. She ran outside and barely made it to the garbage can before expelling the contents of her stomach.
"Montana, you ok?" Danny had followed her out to the alley.
"I don't know what's wrong, but the meat really got to me." She told him, as she stood up and wiped her mouth. It was an outright lie, but at the moment she didn't want to face the truth.
"Go home, get some rest. I'll have Hawkes come and process the scene with me." He told her as he steered her towards the cruiser. He nodded to the uniform on duty, indicating that she should be escorted home.
"Thanks, Danny."
"No problem. Get better."
Once she arrived back at her tiny apartment, she immediately went to the bathroom and retrieved the bag with the purchases she had made at the drug store the previous evening. She pulled out the band-aids and shaving cream, and then she removed the pregnancy test. She had been too frightened to take it last night, but she could no longer put it off. She had been experiencing morning sickness for the past two weeks. She had also been extremely tired and irritable. It was time to get this over with.
Lindsay had been staring at the stick for over twenty minutes. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she hoped that if she looked at the little pink plus sign long enough it would disappear. After realizing that it wasn't going to happen, she placed the stick in a Ziploc bag and placed it in her purse. She was a CSI after all; she might need evidence later on.
After a night of tossing and turning, she woke in the morning barely rested. After a few moments with her head hung over the toilet, she decided that she had to get ready for work. She could stay home, but eventually she would have to go to the lab and face Danny.
She didn't have any idea what she was going to say, but she had to say something. Something tactful. She couldn't just turn up at the lab and say, "Remember that night that we agreed to forget, well as it turns out, apparently your little guys are quite the swimmers, because guess what? I'm pregnant with your illegitimate lovechild."
The entire way to work, she thought about what she was going to say. In the end, she decided telling him at the lab was not the best idea. She skillfully avoided him all morning, but ran into him coming out of the bathroom.
"Hey, Montana. Feelin' better?" He asked her.
"Uh, yeah. Much better, thanks." She took a deep breath, and took the plunge. "I wanted to talk to you about something. Do you want to get something to eat after shift?"
"Sure. Kelly's?" He asked. He didn't look at all uncomfortable about the prospect of going for something to eat. If anything, he looked a little bit excited.
"I'll meet you there." And with that, she quickly strode away.
When he walked into the diner on the corner, she was already seated at a booth in the back. In her hands she held a generic white mug, with what looked to be tea inside.
"Hey." He slid into the booth and slipped off his jacket.
"I ordered you a coffee. I didn't know what you wanted to eat." She told him as he situated himself.
"Thanks." As the waitress brought his coffee, he quickly scanned the menu.
"Do you need more time with the menu?" The waitress asked. Danny raised his eyebrows at Lindsay. She shook her head no.
"I'll have a Caesar salad." She told the waitress.
"And I'll have a cheeseburger, extra pickles. With fries." He handed the waitress the menu and then turned back to Lindsay.
"So, whaddid ya wanna talk about?" He looked at her expectantly.
While she held her hands around her mug, she blurted out what she had hoped to gently break him into. In retrospect, telling someone that you're pregnant isn't something you can ease into.
"I'm pregnant." She wasn't looking at him when she said it, but after a few seconds of awkward silence she looked up.
His mouth was hanging open like a giant cave.
"I just thought you should know. I'm having this baby. I'm not asking for money, or even support, really. I mean, you can be as involved or as uninvolved as you want. I just thought you should know."
"Six weeks." He still looked shocked, but at least he had regained the ability to speak.
"Yeah, I'm six weeks pregnant. Danny, I mean it. You don't have to feel obligated. I'll understand if you don't want to be involved. Maybe just take some time to think about it, and we can talk later." She started to gather her things, when he reached across the table and took her hand.
"I don't need time. I want to be involved." He had a slight grin on his face as he said it.
"Really?" She could feel tears starting to well in her eyes.
"Yeah. I know this isn't the best time, or even the best circumstances, but this is a baby. Our baby. I want to be involved. Doctor's appointments, ultrasounds, birth, first steps, first word, dance recitals, baseball games. I want to be there for everything. My dad could've cared less about me when I was a kid. This baby is not growing up without a dad." As he said it, the tears started to roll down her cheeks.
"Hey, now. No crying, it's not good for the baby." He wiped away her tears as he moved around the booth to sit next to her. "Have you been to a doctor?"
"No. I took a home test last night." She told him as he wrapped his arm around her.
"Alright, let's eat. I'll call my sister in the morning; get the name of her ob/gyn."
"Thanks."
"Hey, parents have to stick together, right?" As they started eating, Lindsay felt a warmth settle around her. Maybe things weren't going to be as bad as she thought.
Please review. I'd like to know if people are happy with the way things are going. If you're not, what would you like to see?