Valentine's Day February 14th 2022 Pt. 2

"You know the rules, Luce, I can't help you with this one," Danny said, even though he wanted to give in to his daughter, she had wrapped him around her pinky permanently since the day she was born.

"Well Louie is getting to stay the night at his friend's house!" Lucy protested, wrinkling her nose up and trying to not stamp her feet. Her father hated it when she stamped her feet. "And Kara's older brother will be there," she interjected.

Danny scoffed, "telling me you want to spend the night at a friend's house with a fifteen year old boy and no parents home is not the way to convince me, baby girl."

"This isn't fair, the twins are getting to go to Mardi Gras and I am stuck here in boring Queens in the boring snow with my boring parents!" Lucy scowled, her voice rising.

"Carnival," Lindsay said passing through with a stack of laundry, having been corrected by Gus enough times, and now Stella and Mac too. "And if you keep pushing it, you will be going to stay out in boring Staten Island with your boring grandmother and brother and sister too!" She gave her the 'mom look', something she had perfected over almost 13 years and four kids.

"Did you just call my mother boring, Linds?" Danny protested, pouring a to-go cup of coffee as he looked at the clock, once again grateful that his commute had been drastically shortened with the Forensic Complex moving to Queens.

"Better than a lot of other things I have called her," Lindsay muttered under her breath. "That isn't the point," she said, giving him the same look she had just given her eldest and pointing at the clock.

"Louie, Lydia, Rueben, shake a leg, train is leaving the station!" he yelled, his kids flying at him from all corners of the house, a flurry of backpacks, instrument cases, sporting equipment and class Valentine day cards.

"Masks on, monsters," he reminded them.

"Kisses first!" Lindsay said, doling out hugs and lunches as well, ignoring the rolling of Lucy's and Louie's eyes. "Love you, have a good day!" she said, hoping she had time for a shower before she had to be at her job.

"Love you too! Bye Mama! Goodbye Mother. Love you mom," came the replies as the Messer kids bounded out of the house.

Danny paused, turning back to give his wife and a big kiss. "Love you more," he said with a smile.

"What was that for?" Lindsay asked.

"So you won't be mad at me when I tell Lucy she can spend the night at Kara's," he replied sheepishly.

"Daniel Messer!" Lindsay protested, "you spoil her."

"Nah, Montana, it's so we can be alone and I can spoil you," he said with a mischievous smile, happy he could still make his wife blush after all these years.


"Stop it, Shel, and you better not be burning dinner," Camille ducked out of Hawkes' embrace, and swatted him towards the kitchen.

"With as many times as you opened the oven checking, I would be amazed if it was still warm," Hawkes called over his shoulder with a wink.

"Can I take those?" Camille asked, gesturing to Adam for the wine that had almost sent crashing to the floor as he rang their doorbell.

"Yeah, thanks, I wasn't sure what to bring because I didn't know what we were having. I brought red, white and pink," Adam babbled.

Chris moved to grab the dessert they had brought from Adam, "it's rose, love, figured Augusta would have taught you that by now," he teased, kissing Camille on the cheek and saying, "the white is already chilled."

"I'm sure it is delicious, no matter what you call it," Camille said, patting Adam on one round cheek.

Chris sniffed the air, taking the glass of wine offered to him. "It smells delicious, is there anything I can help with?"

Hawkes shook his head, "Nope, deceptively simple dish, and Camille was a big help earlier," he said with a slight smirk. Camille was an amazing nurse, wife and mother but hopeless in the kitchen.

"Quail?" Adam guessed, as Hawkes plated the small roasted birds.

"Close. Hens with a veloute sauce, green beans, salad, and scalloped potatoes. It is Valentine's Day after all!" Sheldon replied, looking pleased with himself and the food.

"Damn, I shoulda brought my eating pants!" Adam drawled.

"Didn't know you had any other kind," Chris teased.

"Hey now, watch it, buddy or we both are going back on a diet," Adam playfully shot back.

After dinner, and a scrumptious dessert, Adam leaned back on the sofa with another glass of wine and yawned. "That was amazing, but if I don't move soon, I am going to fall asleep here."

As if on cue, Mikayala Hawkes' plantitive cries sounded from her room. "She's been having monster under the bed nightmares all week!" Camille explained.

"Uncle Adam to the rescue," Adam said, bouncing up and striking a superhero pose.

"Well you certainly are my hero," Camille said with a grin, taking a drink of wine.

"How are the wedding plans coming, did you set a date yet?" Sheldon asked Adam a bit later as they cleaned up.

"Shel, don't take this the wrong way, but you are as bad as Jo. There hasn't really been any planning on our part, mind you Christopher's mother has practically planned a wedding for us...mind you the other day she asked which one of us was going to be the bride..." Adam shuddered before picking back up. "I don't really know what we are doing. We've barely seen each other with this crime wave."

"You're amazing calm for a husband to be," Sheldon said with emphasis.

Adam sighed, 'mostly because I don't see the point. You spend all this money on one party for what? It's the relationship between Chris and I that is the important thing, everything else is just decoration."

Both men nodded. "I only wished everyone looked at it that way," Sheldon replied, thinking how much their wedding had dented his and Camille's savings. He wouldn't trade it for the world though.