Author's Notes: This has been difficult on two levels. First, I keep wanting to change the baby's name to Lucy; mostly because now I'm just used to thinking of DL's baby as Lucy. So if I mess up, please forgive me. I can't think of a plausible reason why they would suddenly change their daughter's name, or that's what I'd do.

Second, it's just really hard to keep going, given the events of the finale. This feels almost AU now, and it was never meant to be that.

But, I have my reviewers to keep me going (Yay, you! You all rock!). And I'm also touched to have a couple of nominations in the CSI:NY Fanfiction Awards. Thank you, thank you!

And now, on with the show. Let's see what Lindsay's been up to, shall we?

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Full headers and disclaimer in Chapter 1

Title: A Father's Heart, Chapter 7 (completed 05/16/2009)

Chapter Rating: T

Word Count:

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Lindsay stabbed the key to restart the mpeg file she was listening to for the fourth time. Danny's daughter was definitely not a morning person. While the little one slept in, Lindsay spent her mornings working online, taking courses to improve her evidence analysis skills. It helped her to feel like she wasn't completely out of touch with the lab and her profession. If it weren't for the sure knowledge that her maternity leave would soon be over and she'd be back at work, she would have gone insane weeks ago.

It wasn't that she didn't love her daughter and love being a mother. But as emotionally rewarding as it was, it wasn't exactly a mentally stimulating occupation; and Lindsay needed to feel that her mental gears were well oiled and functioning.

This morning she was working on audio-visual analysis. She was supposed to be splitting the tracks of a voice mail message, to capture a background noise that would pinpoint the location of the caller. But she'd been unable to pay attention long enough to even listen to the message once all the way through. Every time she restarted the recording, her mind drifted off to the events of last night.

Giving it up as a lost cause, Lindsay decided that her professional development as a CSI would just have to wait one more day. She pushed away from the desk, logged out of the university website and shut down the laptop. She decided to check on Lucy before taking a quick shower. Then, she could pack up the baby in her stroller and go for a walk around the neighborhood. It would do both of them good to get out and get some fresh air.

Lucy was right where Lindsay had left her earlier, stretched out on her back in her crib, snuggled warmly in a fleece romper. One tiny fist was flung up over the baby's head, stretched out slightly to one side, while the other was stretched down and away from her body as well. In her favored sleeping position, she looked like a tiny, cuddly caricature of John Travolta from the famous Saturday Night Fever poster.

Lindsay smiled down at the love of her life and patted her belly gently. It was physically impossible for her to be in her daughter's presence and not touch her in some way. She put it mostly down to her instinctive need as a mother to ensure that the baby was ok. But she also knew that it was, in part, a sense of wonder at the miracle that was her baby girl. She was such a tiny little thing, and yet she had so totally transformed two people's lives. She'd brought out qualities in her father that Lindsay would never otherwise have believed existed.

Months ago, she really did think she knew Danny. She knew he was caring and loving, sweet and kind. She knew that he would do anything to help a friend and nearly anything to help a stranger. But she also believed that he would run from responsibility and commitment, or from anything that smacked of being tied down to home and family.

She couldn't have been more wrong and she'd never been happier to be wrong in her entire life.

She didn't expect anything, yet he gave himself to her and their child completely, and without reservation. She was the one who was hesitant; who wasn't ready to share her life with him. In the end, she came to realize that her fears were of the Danny she thought she knew, not of the real man.

Lindsay shook her head to snap out of her introspective reverie. She glanced at her watch and was surprised to note that it was nearly two in the afternoon. Danny had yet to call, but that wasn't terribly unusual. He was probably at a crime scene, totally focused on gathering whatever evidence he could find. She was sure he would call once he got back to the lab.

She was also surprised that the woman from Child and Family Services hadn't called. She seemed so insistent that Danny needed to meet Melinda's son. Lindsay wondered why. Was she hoping that Danny would form an immediate attachment once he met the boy? Lindsay hoped that, whatever was in store, Danny wouldn't be hurt again becoming attached to another woman's son.

Giving Lucy's cheek one more feather-light touch, she hurried into the bathroom to shower and change.

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Lindsay had made it just two blocks down the street when her cell vibrated in the pocket of her sweatpants. She was still working off the last few pounds of her baby fat and hadn't quite managed to get comfortably into her old jeans. And she refused to buy a larger size. She fished the phone out with one hand, keeping a firm hold on the stroller with the other.

"Messer," she answered.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Messer, this is Nancy Wells from Child and Family Services. We met last night?"

Lindsay quickly steered the stroller one-handed to a small bench where she could sit down while she spoke. She was still new to the juggling act required to take a nearly newborn out into the world, and she didn't quite trust herself to walk, push the stroller and talk on the phone at the same time.

"Mrs. Messer? Are you there?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, Ms. Wells. I had my hands full and I needed to set some things down so that I can talk. I assume you've called to set a time to bring Joshua by to meet Danny?"

Lucy was beginning to fuss a bit. Lindsay turned the stroller so that Lucy would be able to see her face and the baby immediately began to gurgle happily.

"Yes, I apologize for calling so late. I was called unexpectedly to testify at a hearing and I've just gotten out of court. It's too late now to arrange anything for this evening, but perhaps tomorrow, if that's convenient?"

Lindsay wondered if she should suggest a morning visit, to leave the rest of the day for whatever Danny might want to do on his day off, or should she set up something for the afternoon in case he wanted to sleep in? She sighed. She knew Danny's heart, but his preferences and habits she was still a bit uncertain about. She decided to opt for getting the meeting out of the way to leave the rest of the day free.

"That's quite all right, Ms. Wells. We wouldn't have been able to do it today anyway, since Danny's working a shift and won't be home until late. Would ten in the morning be all right?"

"That's perfect, Mrs. Messer. We'll see you then. Did you or your husband have any questions that came to mind after I left last night?"

Lindsay thought for a moment. She had quite a few questions about Melinda Ponzio, but she wanted Danny to answer those. She also wondered what would happen to the boy, when it was finally proven that Danny wasn't his father. Was he still young enough to have a good chance at adoption? Or would he spend the next 15 years in foster care, bounced from home to home? But she couldn't very well ask those questions.

"I don't think so, Ms. Wells. We're just anxious to meet Joshua." It wasn't a lie. They were both curious and hoped meeting Melinda's child might answer some questions.

"That's wonderful. I look forward to seeing you both again tomorrow morning at ten. I'm sure once you've both met Joshua, you'll realize that there is only one right thing to do. Goodbye, Mrs. Messer."

"Goodbye!"

Lindsay slipped the phone back into her pocket and checked on Lucy, tucking the light blanket up around the baby's chin. It was warm in the sunshine, but there was a nip in the breeze that reminded her that October was just a few days away.

"Would it be so terrible if you had a big brother, baby?" She smiled at Lucy, who looked up and gurgled, but didn't answer.

It wasn't that she didn't believe Danny, she did. But there had to be a reason why Melinda named him as the father. And really, what did it matter given the alternative? Maybe that was it. Maybe Melinda simply hoped Danny would keep her child out of foster care, should the worst happen. She was a single mother, with parents unable to care for her child if something were to happen. Maybe she had no one else she could depend on. Anyone who knew Danny at all knew that he was softhearted, especially where kids were concerned. But if that were the case, why didn't she just ask him?

"Lucy, honey," Lindsay addressed the baby as she stood and continued to push the stroller down the street, "We're supposed to be in the park, enjoying the trees and the birds and the sunshine. We're not supposed to be sitting on a ratty old bench outside a crowded bodega surrounded by nothing but concrete. Whaddya say we get on down there while you're still awake to enjoy it, shall we?"

Lucy gurgled and cooed, which Lindsay interpreted as her agreement.

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Danny paced in his office thinking about the little that Mac had been able to tell him about Melinda Ponzio's death.

Tanglewood. He thought he'd heard the last of that group when Sonny Sassone had been sentenced to murder and sent to Sing-Sing. The added convictions for conspiracy, attempted murder and obstruction of justice had sealed his fate. Sonny was in for life, with no possibility of parole.

Salvador Zabo was dead, Sonny was in prison and Louie…well…Louie was where Louie was. Tanglewood should be history.

The familiar jingle of his cellphone rang out just as Danny's fist met the side of a file cabinet. Pulling the phone from his pocket, he glanced at the caller id. A ghost of a smile lit his face as he answered, shaking the sting from his fingers.

"Hey babe, what's up?"

"Are you busy, Danny? 'Cause it can wait until you get home."

"Nah, nah. 'S'ok. I'm just in the office. Same old, same old, you know? I got some evidence to process from this mornin' but nothin' that can't wait."

"What's wrong, Danny? What happened? Are you ok?" Lindsay's voice had gotten frantic.

Danny sat down on the small couch, leaned forward with his free arm draped across his thighs and sighed. "How do you do this, babe? You got ESP or somethin'? You always seem to know when things are goin' rough."

"Seriously, Danny, are you ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine Linds, I'm fine. Just a little…I don' know…freaked out, I guess. Somethin' bizarre happened with a case I was workin' on this mornin', that's all. No shots fired, I promise. I'll tell you all about it tonight. I still wanna know how you always seem to know when to call. Like that time when you were in Montana and I'd just gotten back from a shootout. It was like you * knew *." Danny leaned back. Nothing could calm him down like talking to his wife. Well, except maybe holding her in his arms. He really wished she were here. Or better yet, that he was there.

"It's not that hard, Danny" Lindsay was calmer now. There was a chuckle in her voice. "I call you every day. I'm going to do that on the rough days, too. You just notice it more when there's something on your mind. And you give yourself away. When you call me 'babe' with a nervous tone in your voice, I know something's up. And then you start trying to convince me that everything's normal and I know it's not. No day is ever 'normal' for us, you know that, Danny."

"Yeah, I guess I do, I guess I do. So how are you? How's Lucy?" Danny's stomach chose that moment to growl loudly, reminding him that he still hadn't eaten any lunch. And it was nearly four pm. He might have to make do with some chips from the vending machine. He didn't want to be late getting home if he could avoid it, and there still was quite a bit of evidence to work on from the morning.

"We're both fine. We took a nice walk up to the park. Lucy had a conversation with a sparrow that decided to stop for a few minutes on the edge of her stroller. She reached up for him, though and he flew off. She's on the floor right now. She's trying to roll over. I put her bear just out of her reach and she's trying to get to it."

"Geez, Montana! You tryin' to get her all frustrated? I'm gonna tell her she's got a mean mommy!" Danny chuckled. Lindsay was constantly doing things to 'enrich and encourage' their baby's development. He just wanted to pamper Lucy and do everything for her.

"She's three months old, Danny. We need to encourage her to achieve all the developmental milestones. She's already reaching for things, but she should be able to roll over in another month or two. And then she'll start crawling and…"

"Enough, Lindsay, enough! You'll have her in college next year at this rate. I'd like to enjoy my * baby * girl for a little while before she's grown and gone, 'kay?" Danny got up from the couch and walked to the door. If he was going to get that evidence processed, he needed to get on it. And he could walk and talk at the same time.

"Ok, ok, Danny," Lindsay laughed, "I'll let her stay three months old for another day or so. But then it's on to first grade next week!"

They'd had variations of this conversation often. Lindsay knew it was all banter on Danny's part. He was enormously proud each time their daughter accomplished a milestone. He'd fussed over her when she'd laughed the first time at just three weeks old. And when she'd held her head up and started doing little push-ups at just six weeks, he'd wanted to throw a party. Danny was convinced that Lucy was nothing short of a baby prodigy.

"Ok, babe, but she's going to Catholic school where the nuns can keep an eye on her. I don't want her in any coed schools where every boy's gonna be havin' ideas. I was a boy once, I know how they think!"

"Yeah, and you STILL think that way or we wouldn't have her!"

"Of course. But that's different. That's me an' you." Danny had reached the evidence locker and paused outside. He didn't need the evidence clerk to hear his private conversation with his wife. "Linds, I gotta go. Evidence calls. I love you. Kiss Lucy for me and tell her Daddy loves her, too."

"Wait a minute. I wanted to tell you that Ms. Wells, the woman from CFS called. She wants to bring Joshua over tomorrow at ten in the morning. Is that ok with you?"

Joshua, Melinda's boy. The sweet banter with Lindsay made him forget for a moment. He wondered how much Nancy Wells knew about the situation. Mac was bound to contact CFS, if he suspected the boy was in danger. Danny was fairly sure that had already been done. He wouldn't be surprised if the appointment was cancelled, or at least moved to a secure location. Mac would wonder why Danny agreed to meet the boy, since he was denying paternity. Maybe he should talk to Lindsay about that. He might not be the boy's father, but that didn't mean he didn't want to make sure he stayed safe. He owed Melinda that much. Maybe he should go along with what was on the birth certificate. As his father, he could keep the boy safe. Who knew what would happen if Joshua wound up in foster care?

"Yeah, that's fine, Linds. I hope t'be home on time tonight, 'kay? I love you."

"I love you, too, Danny. Lucy says 'gah!' Stay safe."

"Always, babe."

Danny flipped the phone closed and returned it to his pocket. He pushed open the door so that he could collect his evidence and get started. It was going to be a long and hungry afternoon.

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