Lindsay couldn't believe it. There was actually a girl in Danny's apartment, except she wasn't anything like Lindsay would have expected, especially since the girl was only a child.
For a second, Lindsay thought that maybe she was a neighbor's kid and Danny was only watching her while the neighbor ran errands. But Lindsay couldn't deny what she was seeing. The girl was an exact replica of Danny.
The little girl looked at Lindsay for a moment before smiling.
"Hi!" she said in a cheerful voice. Lindsay managed to give the girl a tiny smile in return, not exactly sure of what do to next.
"Uh, hi. Is your, uh, father here?" Lindsay asked. She couldn't quite believe the words she had just spoken. Danny, a father? It couldn't be possible.
"Yeah, hold on--oh, you brought Chinese food! I didn't know my daddy ordered food. It must be a suprise! I love Chinese food!"
Lindsay looked at the girl, confused, then she realized that the girl had seen the food she was holding. She thought she was the delivery girl. She couldn't help but chuckle at the girl's mistake. She was about to remind her to get her father, but she didn't have to.
"Linds?"
Lindsay looked past the girl and saw Danny walking towards her. There was a look of shock on his face, obviously suprised that she was standing in his doorway.
You think you're suprised?! How the hell do you think I feel right now?
"Daddy, you know the Chinese person?" the little girl asked, looking at Lindsay, then at Danny.
Lindsay felth her heart sink when the girl called Danny daddy. If he had hidden this big of a secret, then what else could he be hiding from her?
"Uh, yeah," Danny said to the girl, not really understanding what she meant since he knew Lindsay wasn't Chinese. "What are you doing here?" he asked Lindsay.
"What do you think? She's bringin' us dinner! Duh."
Danny looked at Lindsay and saw the bag of food she was carrying, finally understanding what the girl was talking about. He then smiled at the girl. "Right. Um, sweetie, do me a favor? Could you go to your room and play with your toys for a little while? Or you can go to my room and watch tv. I think there's a marathon of that show that you love on Disney Channel."
The little girl smiled widely and nodded. She waved goodbye to Lindsay, then skipped happily off to her father's room, leaving Danny and Lindsay feeling a bit uncomfortable in the current situation.
Lindsay placed the bag of food on the floor and walked past Danny, taking in her surroundings. His place didn't look anything like she had expected. Of course, who really expected a bachelor's pad to be filled with Barbie dolls and stuffed animals?
"Look, Lindsay, I--"
"Do you have a wife that you're keeping a secret also, Messer?" she interrupted.
Danny quickly shook his head.
"No, no, it's not like that.
"Well, what's hername? How old is she?" Lindsay asked, taking a seat on the couch.
Danny looked at her, unable to tell if she was pissed, upset, shocked, or all of the above.
"Her name's Katherine, but she goes by Katie. She's five," he said. "She just started kindegarten last week."
"So where's her mother?" Lindsay asked, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer or not.
"I dunno." He glanced at her, and when he saw the look in her eyes that told him to continue, he did.
"Her mom's name is Stephanie. She was just a one night stand, meant nothing to me. Then a few weeks later she shows up at my door and tells me she's pregnant. I didn't know what to do, I wasn't ready to be a father. Steph decided she wanted nothing to do with the baby after it was born, so she planned on putting it up for adoption. I knew I wasn't ready to be a dad, but I didn't want to never see the kid, so I just decided I'd raise her. It's probably the best choice I've ever made in my life. So anyways, Steph pretty much just disappeared after Katie was born. She didn't really give a damn what happened to her.
Lindsay nodded, letting Danny's words sink in. So he hadn't ever been married before. Fatherhood had been thrown at him, and he'd taken all of the responsibilities. That still didn't answer her biggest questions.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" she asked, glaring at him. "And who all knows?"
"Everyone knows, except you. Well, now you know too."
"Danny, we've been dating for five months, and you knew me a year before we even started dating. You've had plenty of time to explain this to me!"
"But would you have still stayed with me? I've known plenty of girls who have just walked away when they found out I have a daughter."
Lindsay sighed, placing a hand on Danny's shoulder.
"Do you think I'm the type of person who'd leave because of that? Danny, I love you, and it's going to take a lot more than you having a child to get rid of me."
Danny smiled.
"I love you too, Montana. But that's not the only reason I didn't tell you."
"What's the other reason?" she asked, looking worried.
"It's just, I'venever been in a serious relationship before, and since Katie was born, it's just been me an her. I don't know how she'll react to me dating, and I guess I just figured if I didn't tell you about Katie, then you two wouldn't have to meet yet, and I wouldn't have to deal with her reaction yet. I know, it sounds stupid."
Lindsay shook her head.
"No, it's not. You care about her, you don't want her life to change. But Danny, if you were planning on staying with me, you knew it would come out sooner or later."
"I know, I know. I was just hoping it would be a lot later. I didn't realize you'd hunt me down. I guess that's what I get for dating another detective." he joked.
"Nah, it's just what any girl would do if their boyfriend never showed her his place after five months of dating," she said, laughing. She soon grew serious again. "We can take things slow with her, if you want. We don't have to tell her we're dating yet. We can just give her a chance to get to know me, and to see if she likes me. And I'd love to get to know her. She seems like a great kid."
Danny smiled, thinking about his daughter.
"Yeah, she is," he said before taking Lindsay's hand in his. "We'll take it slow."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"So Monroe, I sure hope Danny won't get jealous knowing you're with me tonight."
Lindsay playfully smacked Don Flack on the arm before taking a sip of her beer.
"Geez, you don't have to be violent, I'm not going to tell him about us," he said, this time avoiding Lindsay's hand. He laughed as she glared at him before turning serious. "So what is it you want to talk to me about?" He had been getting off of work when she had called him, asking if he could meet her for a drink. She had said that she had something important to discuss, so he had of course agreed to meet her.
"I just got back from Danny's place." she said.
Flack nodded, waiting for her to continue. Then what she said registered in his brain.
"Wait, you were at Danny's place?" he asked.
"Yeah," she began, nodding, "I was at his place. You don't have to hide it anymore, Flack. I know about Katie."
"So how'd that conversation go?"
"It went well. I told him we could take things slow, just so we don't freak her out," she said, thinking back on her and Danny's conversation. After they had decided to take it slow, he had asked her to stay for dinner, but she decided to take a rain check. She had a lot of things to think about, and Danny hadn't blamed her. So they instead made plans to take Katie to the zoo that weekend. That way Katie could spend the day getting to know Lindsay, so see if she liked her.
"Wow. I can't believe you actually know. It's gonna be nice not having to keep that secret." Flack said, smiling at Lindsay. She smiled back.
"That's what I sort of wanted to ask you. Why didn't he tell me? I mean, all the reasons he gave me were because of the fact that we were dating, blah blah blah. But I knew him for a year before we got together! It just doesn't make sense as to me why he wouldn't say anything." Lindsay said.
Flack started laughing, causing her to glare at him again.
"Listen Monroe, the reason he didn't tell you was because he had a crush on you from the beginning, and he wasn't about to scare you away. Sure, he probably could have handled it better, but he did it with good intentions, you've gotta know that."
Lindsay smiled, feeling better. She was glad to know the reason he hadn't told her the first year he knew her wasn't a bad reason. It had been because he had liked her all along.
"So," Flack began, "how do you think things are going to be, now that you know?"
Lindsay shrugged.
"It's going to be different, but I'm kind of excited to get to know Katie. The girl doesn't really have any motherly figures in her life. I'm hoping I can be one for her."
Flack smiled at the sound of excitement in her voice, and he thanked God for bringing Lindsay Monroe into Danny's life. She was the one woman who wasn't about to walk out on Danny because of his daughter. She was exactly what Danny and Katie needed.
JavaJunkie4evr, you were right :)
Reviews? Please and thank you.
Next chapter is going to be the trip to the zoo!