A/N: I tried to make the medical stuff as easy as I could to explain. Some was from the internet, and some is what I know from someone I know who has a variation of said condition (though she's much older than 4 now…) Also, the chapter was delayed because I was sidetracked by Lindsey's story at the end and had to finish/include it. (…and work…) Reminder: In / are Lindsey's thoughts.

Once in his room Lindsey pressed the speed dial on his phone that called Samantha. However, he wasn't quite sure at the time how the conversation would go.

"I wasn't interrupting something was I? You didn't have to call me back if I was, but I do need details!" the female voice on the other end of the conversation said immediately after picking up the call.

Lindsey could not help but smile, which was not an unusual result of talking to his assistant. "But I didn't have to call, huh?" he teased. "It's fine, I just wanted to talk in my room. She's sleeping on the couch."

"Oh she is?" Lindsey did not need to see Sam to picture her rolling her eyes at him.

"It's not like that! I…I'm calling her Aly-"

"Huh-uh and the child is the one napping, really?" Sam allowed herself to laugh at her boss freely, since frankly, he deserved it. But there were more important things to ask. "So… sleeping? Can I take that as a sign that things are…okay as they can be?"

Hesitation followed on Lindsey's end. "Yeah… they're as good as the situation allows. The emotional toll of abandonment can exhaust a kid," he explained, bitterly. "I'm just sorry I'm going to have to exploit that when I have to give a defense to why Kristina's break lines somehow got cut; in the event it gets traced back to me."

"How can it? You were with me the whole time. So she… Aly, she's…"

"A wreck," Lindsey finished. "She's sweet…very sweet… but I don't even know if that's completely real, y'know? She knows she needs someone to take care of her and in her head I think it's one false move and she's out the door." Lindsey leaned frontward on his bed to get a look at the sleeping girl in the living room. "She's… Sam…"

"Yeah?" the young mother was concerned by the tone of the voice on the other end.

Lindsey shook his head and laid down on the bed. "If I did send her away right now, unquestionably she'd think she deserves it. I think she thinks Kristina wasn't wrong, I keep telling her it's not her…but…"

"But you can't undo four years in one morning," Sam cut him off. "You're not expected too. Give it time."

Lindsey sighed, and closed his eyes, even though he wasn't looking at his assistant anyway. "Sam, I have to tell you," his serious tone he started off with dropped as he decided not to go through with his original end to that declaration, "Your balloons were a big hit. Thanks!" /I can't tell Sam over the phone, especially when I don't know much yet. Yeah, later face-to-face will be better./

"Oh?" was her immediate surprised response. "They weren't supposed to be from me… I just assumed you'd-"

Lindsey had a much needed, if short, laugh. "Uh, I did actually." /Damn she knows me well./ "Your flowers were a hit. Honestly, I still need to look in the other bag. But really, thank you."

"You're not welcome, you liar!" she teased. "Lindsey, are you okay? You know I'm here for… whatever. I sit outside your office day in, day out and then I go home to Teresa, try and shock me." Her offer was a mix of support and an attempt at humor. It was clear she knew he wasn't telling her everything he wanted too. But Lindsey was resolved to do it in person.

"It's been a long morning. I know you are and I can't tell you how much I've appreciated everything this weekend."

With other things to get to in the unknown deadline of Aly's nap, Lindsey wrapped up the conversation with Sam quickly going over how no one at work knew yet and thanking her again. Once that was done, Lindsey took a portable gray device that looked like a portable CD-Drive out of a box in his room, and brought that along with his laptop into the living room. Once the devices were on the table and he had his seat back on the other end of the sofa, he plugged the two in together. Getting Aly's medical records the legal way would take time he did not want to wait for. While the Magical and Medical world could not mix in terms of cures, treatments, and such, using magic to get ahold of medical files did not count in the "cannot mix" rule. His device generated medical records, physical records, into digital files, if you go either on the hospital/medical centers website or a Doctor's page that the patient goes to. Wolfram and Hart Lawyers often used it to make sure clients weren't hiding anything from them and to get classified information of the opposition. Lindsey took a shot at Cedars Sanai Hospital, since that was where Kristina's mother worked, and it was a well-known place. Once he was on the hospitals website he typed in the needed generator code into the login area of the website, typed Aly's full name into the box that popped up next, and before he knew it he was in the account of ALYoung. He clicked the "Pull All Files" option and once that was done there were lots of different files, and reports from different types of doctors in the hospital. "Learnin' about my kid like I'm doing a research paper," Lindsey muttered, taking a quick glance over at Aly, before he began his reading.

His search quickly took him to a report by a pediatrician and pediatric neurologist that gave her the diagnosis of "Spastic Triplegia", with the details that it falls under the category of a form of Cerebral Palsy. The description of Spastic Triplegia explained that three out of four limps, both legs and her left arm in Aly's case, have muscle tightness to a level that hinders functioning properly, causing poor movement, tone, and at times spasms/involuntary movements. It read as a cosmic punch in the guy to the lawyer who had spent months sulking over not having one functioning limb, a part of a limb really, even though she was born with her condition a few years prior. The irony was too glaring to miss for anyone. To make it worse, Aly's was described as severe because in most cases it causes people to walk differently but isn't bad enough to prevent walking, but hers' did. Everything he read all said that while it would not get worse with time, there was no cure to fix the root cause of her issues; fixing the part of her brain that was sending out wrong signals. However therapies (and according to internet research he did simultaneously, recent new muscle treatments that are being tested), might help improve her muscles/independency/mobility in time, to an unknown extent. He read the description of Spastic Triplegia over and over, with difficulty to move on. As he read the explanation, how it's caused by the brain improperly working that hinders the development, he had a little sympathy for non-lawyers, that have said to him over the years legal documents were frustrating. Reading about motor cortex, receptors, neuron function, was a challenge; a challenge that gave him a headache. Though the headache –and stomachache- had been setting in since he read about the limbs. /Is she being punished because of me? Did the God that so many worship decide to inflict this on an innocent child? On lots of innocent children…who don't all can't have terrible people as parents./ Lindsey knew how evil worked, who the players of that side were. God and the side of 'good' he knew less facts about, and questioned it to himself almost his whole life. Aware that he had to keep his composure to not wake Aly, and that he had to finish the reading before she woke up, he did eventually manage to move on.

Next, he read about how in general she has a general weakened muscle tone throughout her body, there was a note on her hips and lower back, and the part of the brain that effects motor skills, also did not form correctly, slightly making use of her right hand harder to use in certain tasks, causing delays in development/milestones though the full extent of how bad that was unknown since the other limbs had the Spastic Triplegia which hindered knowing how bad it was because of the already lack-of-functioning there.

Moving on in his search, he read about her Speech Delay being an "oral-motor" issue, also stemming from her brain having not developed the area of speech production properly. On the bright side, that was just a delay. Reading about how she only started speaking within the past year was one pleasant thing, since he figured that confirmed his theory on how smart she must be, having come what he considered pretty far in a short time after learning. His internet search of the conditions and his reading of the files, taught him that Aly's conditions are not known for 'going together', though it's far from an anomaly. That, may have angered him most of all. /What did she win the anti-lottery or something?/

The last thing he read in his first (of what would turn out to be quite a few) expedition into Aly's medical history was how a little over a year ago she had had Hamstring surgery as a result of a strong spasm that tore it on her left leg. That explained the scar he noticed. The date of said surgery, Lindsey also took notice was right around the resurrection of Darla and all that went along with that task. He managed to stop himself from going into the 'What If's' of that. Going down that road was not what he needed, and Aly didn't need to wake up to him in a sour mood, as he figured that would be the result.

/I need a break reading about her anymore. Christ, what have these four years been like for her? Really, so many people would say it's 'God's Will.' How many so-called-family members said that when Charlotte died. I know it's not the Senior Partner's Will, they've never been in the business of deciding children should be inflicted with such things… then again, I don't have proof God actually does… /

His last act with the files was writing down the names and phone numbers of her Physical, Occupational and Speech therapists. If they got Aly to her current state, why not continue to see what they can do, he figured. If it comes out to them what Kristina's done, well, then, so be it. His last act at his laptop was looking up the Young's house number. /Damn I could use a drink but it's the afternoon and I'm living with a four-year-old. Don't do that to her./

Lindsey figured they some type of Caller I.D. so he blocked his number before making the call, in his bedroom. The phone rang twice before a man answered. "Young Household, how can I help you?" The voice was a man with some type of European accent, and he sounded very professional, like most hired-help in Beverly Hills, do.

"Where's Kristina?!" Lindsey demanded as a reply

"Oh," the man, Tom, replied with a sigh, a sigh of relief. "Please tell me Angelica is with you? You're…"

"Her father," Lindsey finished off, after unintentionally twitching at the mention of 'Angelica'. "Where is Kristina?!" he demanded again.

"Is she alright? My name is Tom, I'm-"

"Do you think she's alright?" Lindsey was not as angry as in his last reply, because the tone of the man's voice seemed that of genuine concern, even to a jaded evil lawyer. That had to mean a lot. "You'd be the help, I guess? Nice job with that." His anger didn't completely go away.

There was another sigh. "I was off, had to deal with a family issue. I came back, called Kristina, and she told me what she did. Now… she's… she's… in Palm Springs."

"Is that a joke?"

"I promise you, sir. I cannot reach Mr. and Mrs. Young, yet…"

"Don't!" Lindsey insisted. "I'm in control of my daughter's life now, those people contributed to how this has turned out. They deserve to be kept out of this for as long as possible."

"Mr. and Mrs. Young love her very much. They've done what they've thought was the best thing, I assure you. I've tried too. She is really okay? I don't know what you know about her conditions."

It almost made Lindsey mad this man clearly cared for Aly, it had him rethinking hating him and telling him to go to hell with his excuses. Lindsey rubbed his temple with his other hand as he sat on the bed. "I did my research on my kid," the bitterness came out anyway. "She's napping," he added casually.

"So you even know about the allergy, right?"

Lindsey's eyes almost bugged out of his head. "What?!"

There was another sigh. "Her allergy. Kristina did assure me on the phone she gave you the medicines, along with the Epi-Pen." Lindsey knew what that was because his college roommate had one for a peanut allergy. "She's allergic to beef. Very allergic."

"W-what?" the Southern-Lawyer stuttered. "Beef?!"

"Yes, yes. Milk is fine, oddly enough. But beef, all cow meat, highly allergic."

Lindsey's meal of choice after work when he was eating home was grilling a steak, and picking up a side dish from a take-out place. His fridge was stocked with steaks and chop meat, figuring at the very least all kids like burgers. "Oookay," he eventually replied. "…Thanks…Any other allergies?" There weren't any. Lindsey finally checked the bag of medicine Kristina packed. There was an Epi-Pen which Lindsey recognized as his college roommate had one for a peanut allergy. There was also a low dose of a sedative, one Lindsey was sure he'd seen in Lilah's purse, so he questioned it immediately. Tom assured him that it was a very low dose, and that Aly did not respond well to muscle relaxers, so the sedative is an alternative treatment to help with her muscle tightness, but she only takes it at night because it makes her tired, and it helps her sleep comfortably. There was also a child-dose of a prescription pain killer that was not narcotic, which Lindsey figured and Tom confirmed, was for bad spasms and Tom added that some days her legs just hurt more than others and Aly had become pretty good at knowing when she should ask for it, which was not an every-day thing. Lindsey hadn't considered she was in much physical pain until then. His stomachache increased even more. The conversation ended abruptly because Lindsey heard Aly start to wake up. Before they hung up, Tom did tell Lindsey he could call at any time if he needed to know anything. Taking him up on that was not completely out of the question. Lindsey McDonald would not turn down having a man on the inside, though he did intend on verifying further that he would not be trying to play Lindsey somehow for his bosses.

All day Lindsey had been wondering what time Aly should be put to bed. He refused to ask Sam over the weekend what time Teresa went to bed as to not sound totally clueless, and he didn't look it up 'what time does a four-year-old go to bed?' on the internet, because he thought that would be lame. Luckily it did not matter what time Aly was generally used to going to bed or what he thought would be appropriate because soon after they ate a delivered dinner, sunlight still out, Aly had been ready to sleep again without having taken any medicine. Lindsey did give the sedative to her so she would not have to be as uncomfortable as her nap was.

Lindsey offered Aly the controversially expensive nightgown from the shopping expedition with Sam and Aly found it to her liking. Once the back of the nightgown was tied as it should be, Lindsey went around Aly to get a look at her in it. The Jaded Lawyer, found himself taken aback. In front of him could have been a cliché poster for "innocence". Aly's curls came down to her shoulders, where the white lacey design on the white silk began. She looked pure, she was pure; and in the care of someone admittedly 'dirty.' In that moment it really hit him that a person like him, and a person like Kristina, had made her. "You look pretty," was his to-the-point commentary on Aly's appearance. Aly made her 'blushing face' as her response. "No. Really, you shouldn't even go to bed now. I should put you right there," he teased and pointed to a self of old-fashion dressed up dolls. "Then again, I'm sure they wouldn't like being so outshined…" The two of them were so involved in their interaction, and since the sunlight was still out, they did not noticed the night light in the room had flickered on and off after certain compliments Aly's new father bestowed upon her; including a follow up line about how he needed to take her picture to show her off to her uncle and aunt, and also to Sam, and also telling her how smart she was when they were looking at food to order. He asked her if she liked burgers, she insisted no, and they found a way (as Lindsey had planned) for Aly to 'inform him' about her allergy. As far as Lindsey was concerned playing previously uninformed couldn't possibly be a bad thing if it had any impact on building her confidence.

"You want a story read first before being tucked in?" he eventually offered. Aly accepted without hesitation. When they went over to the bookcase, Lindsey grabbed one quickly without looking at it until it was in his hand. Until it was too late. "Cinderella," he mumbled, as Aly 'Oooh'd' having recognized the cover. /Dammit, Sam!/ "Really? This one?"

"Uh-huh." Aly's enthusiasm had dwindled since perhaps even a two-year-old would have caught on to the displeasure Lindsey had displayed in his question.

"This version? Or how about I tell you the real story?" Lindsey countered, confident the way the story should be told –his way- was far more entertaining and useful.

"Yeah!" His audience of one (plus Elmo) had been immediately captivated.

He took them over to the bed, sat them –and Elmo- across leaning with Lindsey leaning against the wall with Aly and her stuffed friend on his lap, and opened the book.

"See, what's in here isn't what should be in here. Some of it is the same. Let's see, so there's Cinderella, the Stepmother, and the Stepsisters. First of all, if Cinderella's dad had had a lawyer and made a Will, the Stepmom would never have been able to take over everything, forever. That's just how important lawyers are." Aly nodded as if she had just been told important government secrets. "So Cinderella had her own house taken from her and not having access to any of her fathers' old accounts, she couldn't hire anyone to take Stepmom to Probate court over what should have had existed. She had to do all the housework and cooking, which was really hard because clearly these girls ate way more cake and ice cream than people should," he pointed out the page of the over-weight Stepsisters and Stepmom.

"One day Cinderella heard them all talk about going to a party, which she wanted to go to as well. But her Stepmom wouldn't let her, because she was prettier than her own daughters and she was afraid the Prince throwing the party would automatically like her better. This actually made Cinderella feel good." Aly was puzzled. "Uh-huh, see? It's the real story, like I said. Cinderella is smart, smart enough to know that Stepmom must also be a bad Mom to her daughters, because a good parent would not sell off their children and would want them to marry someone who appreciates her, and shouldn't want their daughter to be a gold digger. As smart as Cinderella was, she was young and desired to go to the trendy party like everyone else was, anyway. She was so sad the night of the party because her Stepmom had done her best to try and keep her home. So she was sad, but like any respectable girl, she wasn't going to sit around doing nothing waiting for" he paged through the book until he saw a picture of mice helping her get ready, "mice to help her." /MICE? And the cats' name is Lucifer?! No wonder we own Walt's body…/ "No, she knew she could summon a veng-ah-call a fairy godmother, to help her out. By contacting her right away, that saved Cinderella a confrontation with her family before the party. But like in the story said, she had to be back by midnight, because favors are not free. She arrived at the party with the best, prettiest dress in town, and unlike the book said, it was red, all red." As Lindsey had aimed for, the red dress change was a huge hit with his audience Elmo-cuddling-Aly.

"So because she had to be back by midnight, she still had to run back home, and run away from the Prince, leaving behind a satin shoe. A glass shoe would be completely unsafe, Cinderella could have opted for that as her penalty, but she knew what a bad idea that was, so she took her time limit. A few days went by and all of a sudden the Prince arrived at the house with his assistant, as he had been searching the town for whoever left the shoe. Cinderella was not quick to come forward because a guy going door-to-door is a lot like stalking, and a respectable girl knows that kind of behavior is not something you should take as a good thing. As her not-as-smart stepsisters were thrilled with the idea of the Prince maybe stalking one of them, Cinderella hid in another room to think through what she was going to do. The Prince was on his way out, though, when the perfect way to make everyone who treated her badly really, really, suf-ah-wish they hadn't, came to her. She showed herself in the other room and put the shoe on. The Prince, thrilled he found the girl, agreed to speak with Cinderella alone. Once they were alone Cinderella laid out the rules. They would get married so he would look good to his father and The Kingdom, but Cinderella was not going to let this stranger tell her what to do, and he would have to work on his neediness. Cinderella was going to get her own space in the castle and they would get to know each other, but in public they would act just as a loving Prince and Princess should for both of their benefit, and most importantly, royalty or not, she wasn't a signing a Pre-Nup without an independent lawyer from another Kingdom looking it over. She was really going to make him look good, because as his Princess, she told him she would work forming an organization, a group that makes sure children, of all kinds of families, are being cared for properly, which the townspeople would love them for. The Prince finally saw more of Cinderella not just her looks. All the other girls he met that day fell at his feet, which of course felt good, but here was a girl who had brains, a personality, bal-er-courage, standing up to a Prince and laying out her own rules, she was exactly who every girl should be like, that Sa-Cinderella." /Whoops. Where'd that come from?/ Aly didn't understand half of what was said even though Lindsey had to tried to be conscious to keep it at her level, but the story had her in giggles by the end anyway. After all, big words are funny, Aly was sure of that fact.

Cinderella, as told by Lindsey, ended with "and the two of them lived as happily as two people with a solid agreement, money and a castle could be. The end."

"Yay!', chirped the sleepy child who had been looking up at her entertainment as if he was, quite possibly, almost as fun as Elmo. Almost.

"You really liked it?" Lindsey questioned, with an unfamiliar high pitch. Some might even have called it excitement.

"Yeah." The combination of sleepy and happy lost it's even place on Aly's face. Sleep had taken over almost completely.

Once Aly was in a comfortable position under the covers with Elmo, Lindsey had one thing to address before she actually fell asleep. "So you've been such a good girl today. I know that you want to be a good girl all the time, right?" Aly nodded. "So if you need anything tonight, and every night, bathroom, a drink, if you're not feeling well, anything, you will tell me right? You can tell me because if you say something, I will be able to hear you." Luckily Aly did not question his ability to hear her, so he did not have to explain he had a security camera put in her room over the weekend for Wolfram and Hart and general Evil-Lawyer-With-Enemies, related paranoia. "Do not for a second think you will be bothering me, okay? I am telling you this is what I want you to do, so listen, please. That is what good girls do. But you know that, good girls listen, bad girls don't." Aly agreed immediately, to keep her 'good' status. Lindsey saw nothing wrong with how he phrased his request since it was for a good cause. He had an instinctive feeling Aly would consider nighttime needs 'bothering him'.

When that was out of the way awkwardness set in. /How do I say goodnight? Good night and leave? I held her so many times today, maybe a hug would not be weird?/ Lindsey did give her a small, quick hug as he helped her adjust her position one last time. "Goodnight," he told her as he used a thumb to stroke her cheek once. "Sleep well."

Aly waved at him in return with a reply of "Yea… an…y-ou." She felt just as awkward as her father, unknown to each of them.

TBC

A/N: Thank you all for reading this. Again, I hope the medical stuff was understandable. Up next, Lindsey has to go to Wolfram and Hart and familiar characters will finally appear. Suggestions of something you might want to see happen are always welcome and I do really try to fit any in the story.