"Well hello there." Sam called out, closing the door behind her. Though his face was completely hidden behind the newspaper, she recognized David's shape.

"Hello stranger." David folded down the paper and smiled up at her. To come home and find her not there and no note explaining her whereabouts was more than a little strange. He was willing to not press the issue right away, after all he had been a complete pain for the past few weeks, but eventually, he promised himself, he would ask her.

"You're one to talk. This is the first time I've seen you in the daylight." Sam giggled, climbing into his lap.

"An error I have every intention of correcting." David promised as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close enough to kiss her briefly.

Sam pressed her forehead against his shoulder and closed her eyes. "So, have you been here long?"

"Long enough." He replied cryptically.

"I can't be productive?"

"Not about this." He pushed her head off his shoulder just enough so he could look into her eyes. "It's about Deliah."

"What about her?"

"I'm not going to sue for any kind of custody. She has a father that loves her. I 'm not going to take that away. I want to be in her life, as a friend, and when she's old enough to understand everything…then Carole and I will talk about telling her the truth." David shrugged his shoulders. "I think it's the only fair thing to do."

Sam lifted her arms and looped them around his neck. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes. It's the best for Deliah."

"She's your daughter. Are you really ready to give that up? You just found her. You're being awfully nice to a woman who never would have told you about her if you hadn't figured it out."

"She's four. She doesn't understand all of this. I'd be the man who took her daddy away. I'd fight the same battle Mac had to fight with your sister. I know it's not the same thing, but I don't want to confuse her."

"Have you told them your decision?"

"Later tonight."

"Are you really sure about this? I don't want you entering into some agreement and then regretting it."

"I'm sure. I'm not exactly living a child friendly life here." David pointed out.

"You could."

"I'm not going to regret this." He promised her, kissing her forehead. "This is the best choice. I'm not going to disappear out of her life. And I will help out, but I'm not going to confuse her. She's just a little girl."

"She's also your daughter and you're sending the message that letting another man raise her is okay." Sam argued, dodging his lips.

"A man that's been there since she was born." David reminded her. "A man that's been raising her and, from the looks of it, doing a damn good job."

"Have you thought about this from all the angles?" Sam wanted to know.

"All of them."

"Then I guess that's that."

"Not entirely."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well it occurred to me you have been far more patient with me than I probably deserved over this. And perhaps I owe you a very big thank you."

"It was nothing." Sam deflected, moving to the other side of the couch.

"No it wasn't Samantha." He reached out to grab her hand. "Your support is important to me. I just want to say thank you."

"You're welcome...I guess."

"You guess?" David lifted one eyebrow. "Something bothering you Samantha?"

"I'm just not sure what I did."

"What you did just now, making sure I was considering everything. The same way you do when we work a case. You made sure that I would be ok with this, just like you help make sure we're going to close a case."

"Oh, well, um, you're welcome." Sam sputtered.

"What's going on Samantha?" David questioned. "You aren't normally this flustered."

"You know how I am with compliments. Never take them quite right."

"True." David drawled out. "But you also never shy away from asking what I'm offering."

"Oh, you're offering something?" Sam grinned.

"Always." David matched her grin with one of his own. "I'm offering you a rare opportunity to name whatever you want from me. I suggest you request wisely since I won't always be this generous."

Sam put her index finger to her chin and pretended to really think about her request. "Understanding, perhaps?"

"Understanding..." David said slowly. "Understanding about what?"

"If I said we were equal partners, you would say that's an honest statement, wouldn't you?"

"Yes."

"And you just pointed out that I'm good at closing cases."

"You are." David nodded. "So what did you do on a case that I need to be understanding about?"

"I went undercover for the afternoon. That's why I was late. I was...presenting my case. And they hired me. Isn't that great?" Sam asked with forced cheerfulness.

"Undercover." David said slowly. "On a case."

"Yes. A current one. Case, I mean."

"The only current case we have is the Vermin investigation." David pointed out.

"When you're right, you're right."

"You went undercover with Vermin? Where?" David tried to keep his voice calm.

"The details don't matter. The point is that I'm the fly on the wall."

"The details matter to me. Where are you a fly on the wall?"

"The Paradise Lounge." Sam murmured.

"I'm sorry. I must be hearing things. I thought you said the Paradise Lounge."

"Now don't get excited." Sam cautioned.

"Excited is not the word I'd use."

"You said you'd be understanding."

"That was before I knew you were telling me about your new job as a stripper."

"I'll be hiding in plain sight. You have to admit that it's past time for this case to be over and done with. People are starting to die."

"There are better ways to close it than this."

"There isn't. No one else has been able to get close enough and the last person who tried was Lulu Spencer who, might I add, is still missing?"

"And for some reason I don't want to add you to list of missing persons. Call me crazy."

"Look, I appreciate your worry. I do. It goes both ways."

"I'm glad it does, but you're still not getting up on that stage."

"Excuse me, but that's not your decision."

"And it's not only your decision."

"It's strategy."

"It's dangerous."

"Yeah, well, what isn't in police work? If you didn't think I could do this, why did you want me to be your partner?"

"It's not that I don't think you can do this. It's that I don't want you to do this."

"It's not my first choice either, but the sooner this is done, the sooner we can get back to better things." She reasoned, rubbing his right shoulder soothingly.

"Too bad it's not going to work."

"What do you mean?"

"If you're up on stage, I'll be in the audience. With my gun and badge. Might discourage some conversation."

"Then I suggest you stay home."

"And how exactly do you think you can stop me?"

"I have ways."

"So do I." He reminded her, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her close.

"Maybe I'll just tie you to the bed again." Sam considered, tracing the pocket on his shirt.

"Maybe I'll tie you up first."

"Maybe I'll find a new use for those handcuffs."

"Maybe I'll keep you too busy to leave the bed."

Satisfied by the subject change, Sam leaned over and kissed him lightly on the mouth. "I love you so much."

"Ditto." He whispered back to her, running his fingers through her hair.

"Can we please shelve this discussion for tonight?"

"As long as you realize we will be discussing this again."

"That sounds fair to me."