"What?"

Nick swallowed. He knew that tone of voice in Renee meant she thought he was being ridiculous. "Sonny asked me if we could have a bath later. How...how do I have a bath with a toddler?"

"Oh that's so cute." Just the thought of Nick climbing in the tub with Sonny made Renee go mushy; it was such a daddy-like thing to do. Taking pity on him and the serious lick of panic in his voice, she shifted her phone as she negotiated the intersection into the courthouse parking lot. "Fill the tub up with lukewarm water, and as it's filling, add in the Johnson's Baby-Bubbles. Sonny has already been trained not to pee or poop in the tub so she can leave her diaper off to hop in, but you should throw on some trunks. Oh and when you're washing her hair, use the shampoo in the blue bottle, not the green. The green is for something else entirely. I have to go, I'm parking at the courthouse. I'll be home around eight. Love you."

"Okay thanks honey. Love you too," he added, genuinely grateful his wife hadn't blown him off and knew how to get soothe his anxiety. He turned around and saw that Sonny had nearly finished her juice and was kicking at her chair.

"Let's go, let's go!"

"Go where?"

"In the tub! I'm a mermaid, just like Ariel!"

"How about dinner first?"

"No, tub!"

Nick felt his nerves jelly when her lower lip thrust out and began to quiver. Fortunately, years of CSI training had him thinking on his toes. "Well, even mermaids need to eat so they don't get tired swimming in the ocean."

"Really?"

"Oh sure, they need their seaweed and fish and clams. How do you think Ariel swims so fast?"

As Sonny considered this, Nick opened the fridge once again and looked at its contents. There was a neatly labelled container that said 'Tuesday' on it in Greg's prim handprinting; when he opened it Nick nearly gagged. It smelled of rice and some odd spices that reminded him of the goats on the family farm. He put it back in the fridge and picked the phone up again. "Sonny, how do mermaids like pizza?"

When Renee pulled into the driveway, she rubbed a hand across the back of her neck and let out a groan. Court had been a total snoozefest tonight. She'd been on call for the defense and they hadn't even gotten to her second client. The lawyers had simply decided to tango out their words and waste lots of time bantering back and forth until the judge finally called them on their BS and adjourned court until the following day. And it also looked like it was going to rain, meaning that there was a good chance of power failure through the night. Normally this wouldn't worry her except that the baby monitor rigged up between her and Nick's room and the guest room where Sonny's trundle-bed-crib was stowed ran on electricity and had no battery backup that Renee was aware of.

Still, she had had plenty to keep her occupied, worrying about Nick. They were only married six weeks now, nearly seven and they were facing their first test with Sonny. Not just of their marriage but of the future possibility of children. When Nadine had been pregnant with Sonny, Renee had been absolutely adamant that she make it known to Nick that she didn't want kids right away. It would be interesting to see if she said the same thing after having spent two weeks with their niece in their house, essentially being taken care of like their own child. Nick had already called her in a panic over a bath, she was worrying about the power...wasn't that what parents did? Worry about the big and little things in the universe that would affect their child's well-being? Perhaps then, both of them would change their minds on the kid issue.

Opening the door softly, as she expected her girl and her man to both be in bed, Renee went inside quietly, hanging her coat on the peg beside the door. She slid out of her heels, stripped off her stockings and let the chill of the foyer's ceramic tile wash through her body. She went over to the TV to turn it off, when she looked down and felt her heart stop. Lying there on the couch was Nick, passed out cold. One arm was flung above his head, the other was wrapped around a pyjama'd Sonny, who was equally sound asleep and curled up on his chest. Moving with stealth, Renee tried to pick Sonny up to tuck her in when she realized that not only was Sonny sound asleep but also anchor to Nick: he'd tied the belt of his bathrobe around his niece, making Renee snicker just a little. She gently loosed the knot and put the baby to her shoulder, carried her into bed. Sonny didn't stir a hair, even when Renee tucked her in and gently shut the door part of the way. Before she rejoined Nick, she slipped into their room, changing into some of her new lingerie and put her sweats over top of it. Once she got back to the living room, she carefully slithered her way into Nick's arms and it was only when she kissed his cheek that he finally moved.

"Hey, honey, I didn't hear you come in," he said on a yawn, adding, "Where's Sonny?"

"I put her to bed. Why was she tied to your chest?"

"In case one of us fell asleep, she wouldn't slide off." Nick wrapped his arms around Renee. It felt so good to hold her, even if he was tired as hell. "I know we've only been married a couple of weeks, but I gotta say, the minute you say 'Let's have kids', I'm on board."

This was enough to shock Renee awake. "Really? This from the man who called me in a panic about giving a child a bath."

"I don't know what to do with kids that small. When my nieces and nephews were that age, I was sixteen, chasing girls, then off to college. I didn't see them much until they were walkie-talkies, you know? But man, once we got in the water, she was hilarious. She thought she was a mermaid, and was blowing bubbles, and I taught her how to say 'submarine'."

"Really?"

"Well, it came out more like 'summary' but it's still there. The point is, I didn't realize how attached I'd become to her. And I know we're not ready for our own babies yet, but it's good to know that I won't be a total dunce as a father. That being said..." Nick trailed off as he kissed Renee, his hands sliding over her body, under her clothes. He stopped when he realized that they weren't completely alone.

"I'm sorry, I can't, not with Sonny in the other room."

Renee fumbled for the remote, turned the TV up slightly. "If she asks, we'll say we're watching a grown-up movie," she murmured against his lips as those hands worked wonders on her nerves.

After that night, Nick would never think of The Little Mermaid in quite the same way.