"So do you want to tell me why you ruled the death in that case you nagged me about for a week, a suicide?" Kate Switzer asked Nigel. She was obviously annoyed with her co-worker.

"Um…maybe because it was a suicide." He replied.

"Then why did you argue with me every single minute that we were in the same room together?"

"Because, Kate, it is my goal in life to bug the hell out of you," he flashed her a smile. "How am I doing?" Kate turned to leave but before reaching the door, she stopped and turned back to look at him.

"How about joining me at my place for dinner tonight?" she asked. Nigel was a bit taken aback.

"What? You and me?" he asked and Kate nodded. "Why? We've never done that before. Why now?"

"You remember how I told you about my prize winning dog Binkie, you know, the one who likes to eat Kidney's?" she said.

"Yeah, what about him?"

"Turns out he likes all kinds of kidney's, including ones from Jackass' and I can't think of a bigger Jackass than you, Nigel." She said without even the faintest hint of a smile as she turned and left.

"So what time should I be over tonight?" Nigel called after her but got no response, so he just smiled and shrugged before heading out for the night.

xxx

Jordan arrived at work early the next morning as she found it hard to sleep the previous night. She went to her office to try to do some work, but ended up just sitting there, staring off into space. She was startled by the sound of Garret Macy's voice interrupting her thoughts.

"What are you doing here so early?" he asked.

:"Trying to work. Not happening though. What about you?"

"I have a lot to catch up on. I figured I'd get an early start. So how is your case going? Bug said you had a suspect?"

"Yeah, we have the suspect but we don't know where he is. We also have two kids whose father may have murdered their mother. They have no living relatives that social services know of and there is a chance they may be separated. They're all each other have."

"What is it about those two kids that has you so worked up? You've dealt with children in similar situations before." Garret asked as he sat down next to Jordan on the couch in her office.

"Just the look in the little boy Mateo's eyes. So full of hope and excitement. I don't know. They just got to me. I want to help them, Garret." Jordan said.

"How?"

"Well, by finding their killer for one thing but there is something bigger I want to do…" her voice trailed off, but Garret knew where she was heading with the previous statement.

"You want to take those kids in don't you?" he asked, looking directly into her eyes. Jordan nodded slowly.

"Maybe I'm crazy, I mean, look at me, I'm in my mid-thirty's, I run away from things that scare me, I've had only one serious relationship in my entire life and it took me nearly six years to admit it, I spend all my time in a morgue…"

"Jordan, first of all, mid-thirties is still young. Secondly, you haven't run from anything in the past six years, you've stayed right here in Boston and you've been through hell, but you never left. You've had more than one serious relationship, it just wasn't meant to be until you found what you have with Woody. You're in a good place right now and you are surrounded by people who love you. You have a lot to offer."

"Do you think I'm crazy for wanting to go over to that social worker and tell him right now that I want custody of the Gonzales kids?"

"I think that it will be a challenge, but I think you're up for it. But if you are going to do this, you need to talk to Woody. He's a big part of your life now. Don't exclude him from such a major decision."

"I do need to talk to Woody, but I'm just afraid of what he might say. It took us this long to finally have a real relationship, you know. I don't want to screw it up."

"Jordan, the only thing that would screw it up is you keeping things from him. You can't avoid this. He loves you and wants to be a part of you life. Let him." Garret kissed her forehead and left her office, leaving her to think about what he had said. Jordan stood up and called Rick Bennett. She asked him what she would need to do to become the kids' foster parent. Turns out it would take very little as she had filled out all necessary paper work when she took in Kayla about a year prior.

"We would just have to update your background check. So you really want them?" Bennett asked.

"I do, but I need to talk to someone about this first. How long do I have until they need to be placed?"

"I'm picking them up from the neighbor watching them in about two hours. You have until then to decide if you wish to be their foster parent or not. In the mean time, I will run your background check just to have in if you decide to do this." The two hung up and Jordan immediately went in search of Woody.