A/N: Thanks to all the people who are reading this story, and a big thanks to all those who have left me a note reviewing the story and telling me favorite lines or moments.
Warning: mild relationship spoilers for Season 3
Disclaimer: CSI:NY belongs to CBS and the creative team. Too bad.
Chapter 6: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
It's the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle belling and everyone telling you
"Be of good cheer"
"Danny? Danny, is that you?" Lindsay called from the living room.
"It better not be anyone else walking into our apartment, Montana," Danny called back as he walked from the front door to the kitchen. The lab had been hopping as they tried to complete all the testing that had built up over the holidays, and he was starving.
"There's some soup in the fridge," Lindsay offered as she followed him, and poured herself a glass of water.
"Did you eat?" Danny eyed her sternly.
"Mmm." Lindsay's reply was muffled by the glass to her lips, but her eyes were wide and innocent.
"Lindsay," Danny groaned in frustration, "You have to eat. And not just soup every day."
"I know. I tried, really I did." Lindsay turned away from him. It was impossible to explain that eating made her feel sicker than not eating did. She was just too tired to chew, she decided. That's why soup made sense.
Danny tried to hide his concern; she had lost weight the past two months, and still had morning sickness, or, as she liked to call it "all-day and all-night sickness." Danny had had to stop using garlic and onions in his cooking, which, as he said, was like telling an Italian to stop cooking altogether.
Still, he comforted himself, it couldn't be much longer. It really couldn't be. It was New Year's Eve today, and Lindsay was now ten days overdue. She had been at the birthing centre again that morning, having non-stress tests and exams to make sure the baby was fine, and everything looked set for a blessed event any day, any minute now, she had been told. Again.
Lindsay finished her water and held out her arms for a hug, which Danny gladly gave her. She held on a little longer than she needed to, "I missed you today. I hate being at home. How is everything at the lab?"
"Well, why don't you come and find out for yourself?" Danny asked, hugging her again and running his hand down her back. "Stella's planning a New Year's Eve party at the lab – too many people on shift to do anything else. Why don't we go?"
Lindsay nodded, "Stella phoned me at lunch and invited me."
"So what do you think?" Danny sat down with his bowl of soup and a cup of coffee.
"I'd love to see everyone … " Lindsay's voice trailed off.
"Then we should go." Danny looked up in time to see her bite her lip in worry. "What's up?"
"I don't want to have my baby in the morgue," Lindsay's voice was so quiet, Danny almost didn't hear it, but he saw her face and that told him everything.
He jumped to his feet, "Are you in labour?"
"No. Well, maybe. I don't know!" Lindsay admitted. "I've never done this before. I'm having contractions, but then they stop when they're about 3 minutes apart."
"Did you phone Deborah?" With one hand, Danny reached for his cell, which had the midwife's number on speed dial, while with the other hand he reached out and gently rubbed Lindsay's tummy, as if trying to coax the baby to make an appearance.
"Yes. She said to wait. This stage of labour with a first baby could take hours, and I'd be better off at home than waiting in the birthing centre. But I don't want to sit at home any more." Lindsay was nearly crying with frustration herself now.
"Look, why don't we go to the party? Just for a few minutes, anyway," Danny added quickly. "You'd be able to get out of the apartment and see some people, and we could leave as soon as you got tired. You don't have to dress up. Everyone would love to see you – they ask about you all the time."
Lindsay chewed her lip again, uncertainly. Danny had just come home from a 12 hour shift; she was sure he would prefer to stay at home. On the other hand, she hadn't seen Sid, Mac, or Sheldon for over two weeks, and missed hearing about cases and Christmases. "I would like to go, even if just for a few minutes. Would you mind, Danny? I know you're tired."
Danny grinned, "Who, me? I'm always up for a party! Just let me have a quick shower and change, and then we'll go."
By the time she had changed into a pretty but comfortable velour top and skirt, and Danny had made himself ready, and they got to the lab, it was already after 7 o'clock and the party was in full swing.
They were greeted at the door by Sid, who said, "Have you come to let me deliver this one, too? I'm thinking of opening a birthing room downstairs: one table, no waiting, city employees only."
She laughed and shook her head as he kissed her cheek and handed Danny a bottle of beer. "I don't think it will catch on! But I'll keep you in mind."
Lindsay was swiftly passed through a crowd of lab rats and casual acquaintances, all kissing her or patting her belly or both, until she finally ended up at the far end of the lab, where Sheldon Hawkes stopped her progress with a hug and, even better, a chair.
"Lindsay, you look wonderful! How are things going?" Shel smiled down at her, raising his voice a little to get over the noise of the crowd. He was one of the few people who did not touch her tummy; Sheldon was always careful about personal space. Adam, who had been talking to Hawkes when Lindsay came up, was another one who did not touch her; in fact, he blushed scarlet when he looked at her, and carefully avoided coming near enough to risk bumping into her.
"Good. Let's talk about you. Tell me everything that's happened in the last month!" Lindsay exclaimed, and settled in to talk to first Hawkes, then Adam. They both had family in New York to share Christmas with, so Sheldon told her about his mother, "She's always asking me about finding someone special, and grandchildren, and when am I going back to that nice clean hospital. At least the dinner was great – my mom cooked up a storm!"
Adam told her a long and involved story about going clubbing on Boxing Day and ending up with some girl's cat, which he was allergic to, but was keeping in case she came back to get it. He didn't know her name, or where she lived, and couldn't really remember what she looked like, so Lindsay thought the cat might end up a permanent fixture in poor Adam's life.
Then Peyton wandered over to greet Lindsay and check her out, a little jealously. She had just come back from visiting her family in England and was full of horror stories about the airports, which, told in her dry British voice, sounded much funnier than they probably had been to live through.
Lindsay didn't see Danny anywhere, but she assumed he had been swallowed by the same crowd that had caught her, which would spit him out eventually.
Before that happened, though, Mac showed up, so she stood up to kiss his cheek and wish him a Happy New Year. She wanted to know everything; how his Boxing Day lunch with Reed, his new-found stepson, had gone; whether he and Peyton were still doing okay; how the holidays had affected him. Some of those were questions not even the closest friend could ask a person like Mac. Lindsay had grown up with uncommunicative men, however; she could read a Mac much better than a Danny, who talked so much she had to sift through everything he was saying to figure out what was important.
"How was your Christmas, Mac?" she contented herself with saying, and listening to his answers with both her ears and her heart, was satisfied that Mac was doing well. The fact that he had his hand on Peyton's back was a good clue, as well.
Danny finally showed up through the crowd, bringing Stella and Don with him, before going off again to find Lindsay something to drink. Lindsay caught up with the Flacks briefly, and promised a proper visit the next day, when both were off shift and could bring Star. After a while, though, Lindsay struggled out of her chair, and said her goodbyes. Her feet were restless, as if she had to get moving, so she went off in search of Danny.
"Hey, Montana, where you off to?"
She heard his voice behind her and turned to him.
Her eyes were huge, he noticed first thing, and she had a hand pressed to her belly. "Okay, that was a contraction," she said under her breath. Then she grinned at him, "Time to go, cowboy. Don't tell anyone."
Ten minutes before midnight, everyone in the lab was standing around the clock used to call time of death (Dr. Sid's idea of appropriate symbolism), and waiting for the countdown, when Don, who was tall enough to scan a crowd pretty quickly, leaned over to Stella and Mac beside him and said in a carrying voice, "Where're Danny and Lindsay? Did they leave before the big moment?"
Mac glanced around and said, "I haven't seen them since about 8:30."
Stella grinned, "I suspect the next time we see them, Lindsay will look a bit relieved!"