"Cavendish," Cavendish muttered. He walked to the back of the van, his arms crossed.

"Hello, Mr Supper Dish," Helen snapped.

"CAVENDISH!" Cavendish snapped again.

"Tell me, Mr Cravendale, are there any suitable hotels in the area?"

"Cravendale-"

Dakota cleared his throat. "None nearby."

Helen sighed. "Oh, well. Do you have anywhere I can stay for a while, then, Mr Cravendale?"

"You can stay with us," Dakota offered with a smile.

"It might be fun."

Cavendish and Helen stared at each other in disgust. "Seriously?" Cavendish snapped.

"Why not?" Dakota shrugged. "We have the room."

Helen crossed her arms. "No. I refuse to move in with Cooperdink here."

"It's a nice room, and it's free." Dakota added.

Helen sighed. "Will I have to see Cooperdink every day?"

Cavendish bristled. "You're only staying for a night!"

"Oh, good!" Helen beamed. "Then I accept."

Dakota smiled at her, then Cavendish. "See? She can take my room, I'll sleep on the couch."

Cavendish glared at him. "YOU are responsible for this."

Helen raised an eyebrow. "Refer to me again as anything less than a human being, and I will personally see to it that you don't have any kids. Understand?"

Giving an annoyed sigh, Dakota got between them and pushed them apart. "Enough!"

Helen smirked. "He's just scared of me, aren't you?"

"No," Cavendish said indignantly. "I just don't take kindly to whiny women who think they can boss me around."

"I can, though," Helen said sweetly. "And I am certainly not "whiny". Would you like me to show you exactly why I am not?"

Dakota shrank back, a worried look in his eyes. "Uh-oh…"

Cavendish just scowled.

"I thought not," Helen said, smiling sweetly.

Dakota sighed. "Look; this is our offer. Take it or leave it."

"I did say I accepted, did I not?" Helen turned to Dakota, who automatically took a step back. "So where is my accommodation?"

Cavendish frowned at her. "Keep up that tone if you want to be charged."

"What tone?" Helen asked innocently. "And why on Earth would you CHARGE me?"

"I have legal right to." Cavendish sniffed.

"No you don't." Helen smirked. "I can tell when someone is bluffing so don't insult my intelligence."

Dakota sighed. He would never get these two inside.

Cavendish opened his mouth reprimand the woman, but was cut off by a baby's cries in the apartment building.

Helen inhaled sharply. "Is that yours?! Do you two have a BABY?!"

Dakota glared between them. "Yes, we do. The child of a friend. Now that you've woken her up, I hope you'll both calm down before worse happens." He turned his back to them and walked a relatively fast pace up the stairs and into the apartment.

Helen ran after him.

She found Dakota already with the baby in her room. He swayed back and for with her, whispering soothingly. But the baby would not stop crying, so Helen rushed forwards and gently took the baby from his arms, rocking it. Sensing a female presence, the little baby slowly began calming down.

Dakota stared at her. "How did you do that?"

"Simple: I'm a woman. This little darling knows I'm not its mother, but it can tell that I am closer to its mother than you are."

Dakota frowned for a moment, then his face lit up. "Ah now I get it! I always told Cavendish this little one needed a female in her life."

Helen smiled. "Girl or boy?"

"Oh, she's a girl. Her name's Lily."

Helen smiled. "She's beautiful. How old?"

"Six months," Dakota answered. "We've had her since the first day."

"Is she one of yours?"

Dakota shook his head. "She's the daughter of some friends of ours. We took her in when things got a little…complicated."

"Oh." Helen bit her lip.

"It's not easy, raising a kid. I never expected that responsibility." He paused, smirking. "I hate responsibility."

Helen didn't smile back.

Dakota's smile faded, and he awkwardly kicked at the carpeted floor. "That…doesn't mean I don't care. Normally it's Cavendish who takes care of her, since he's normally up all night with his projects, but I do a lot too. I try to, anyways."

"You need me," Helen said unexpectedly.

Dakota glanced up at her. "What?"

"You need me," repeated Helen. "Lily needs me."

Dakota nodded, understanding what Helen meant. "Now if you want to stay, you should try to get in Cavendish's good side. And believe me; that's hard."

Helen snorted. "I do not need to do that. If he cares about this child at all, HE will ask ME to stay."

"No…because he doesn't think we have a problem," Dakota explained.

Helen snorted again. "We will see about that."

"Are you sure?" Dakota asked. "He's not really the easiest to talk to."

"Let's ask him."

Dakota shook his head. "I don't think-"

Cavendish came into the room just then, spotting Helen holding Lily. He froze.

Helen smiled. "Hello, Mr Cavendish."

Cavendish would have yelled, but he was too afraid to wake Lily

"Your daughter is very cute," Helen said.

"She's my niece," Cavendish corrected.

"Oh, well, she is adorable." Helen smiled. "Anyway…" She handed Lily back to Cavendish, causing the baby to begin crying loudly.

Cavendish sighed. Helen had proven her point. "Do you…mind holding her again?"

Helen smiled again, this time a genuine smile. "I will."

"Maybe we should get something for dinner," Dakota suggested. The atmosphere was becoming just a bit too tense for him, and he was hungry.

Helen gently took Lily back from Cavendish, and within just a few seconds, the baby had calmed down and was cooing softly.

Helen grinned. "See? She likes me."

"And you clearly like her too, right?" Dakota asked, grinning.

Helen nodded. "Oh, why, yes-" She lifted Lily up, kissing her forehead. "I think I love her."

Cavendish scowled.

"Besides," Helen added, looking up at him. "You need me. Lily needs me."

"I don't need you." Cavendish sniffed.

"Lily does." Helen smirked. "Or would you like to hold her again?"

Dakota nudged Cavendish, nodding toward the hallway.

Cavendish frowned. "What are you on about?"

"I was thinking; might it be so bad, having her around?"

"You know the answer to that."

"No, really," Dakota jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at her. "She could look after Lily for us while we continue our missions."

Cavendish glared at him, mostly because he knew his friend was right. But he couldn't change his mind now.

"I'll make this easy for you. There-is-no-way-I-am-leaving-this-baby-in-the-hands-of-two-men-any-longer," she said, pausing in between each word in order to get her point across.

"Do you think we can't raise her on our own?" Cavendish sniffed. "I'll have you know that I-"

Helen interrupted him by placing Lily back in Cavendish's arms. This, once again, made baby Lily cry piercingly. "I think it's obvious," she said icily, taking the baby back. "That she likes me more." She smirked. "Or do you actually like hearing the piercing cries of a baby in your arms?"

With a defeated sigh, Cavendish threw his arms into the air and stomped out of the room.

Dakota sighed. "I guess you're staying, then."

Helen gently placed her forehead against Lily's. "Did you hear that, little one?" she murmured. "I'm staying right here with you."

Lily cooed, grasping her finger. Helen giggled and rocked Lily gently.