DISLCAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CSI:NY OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. I DO HOWEVER, OWN SAMANTHA FLACK AND KELLAN AND KALLISON FLACK


Countdown to 2017: The morning

"If I quit my job for the simple life
Honey would you stand by me
If I bought a little cabin on a mountainside
Honey would you stand by me
Would you be my one true friend
Stick with me through thick and thin
If the roof was old and the rain came in
Honey would you stand by me

If I tried my luck in Hollywood
Honey would you stand by me
If my break never came like I thought it would
Honey would you stand by me
Would you be my heart of gold
And never complain when the money was low
If your coat was thin and your shoes were old
Honey would you stand by me."
-Honey Would You Stand by Me, Kenny Chesney


Two things were responsible for disturbing Flack from a well deserved, peaceful slumber. The first was the winter sunshine spilling through the sheer white curtains on the window. The warm rays tumbling into the room and over the bed, riding the bedroom of some of the chill that had fallen on it over the night time hours. The second guilty party for robbing him of slumber was the sounds of every day life taking place downstairs. A radio was tuned in to the local Top 40 station. The dog was barking and his tiny paw were scampering across the hardwood flooring. The girls were giggling and talking noisily, despite the persistent pleading of their mother to please keep things down.

Judging by the level of noise and activity, the girls, in those tiny, almost squeaky little voices, were the epitome of hyperactive that morning. Not that there was anything new about that. Hyper was commonly on the top of the list of personality traits for both of them. But that morning, there were only two things that they were revved up about. Amanda was coming to spend two days with them while Auntie M and Uncle Danny went away, and they were all going to see Disney on Ice. And it was the Disney Princesses at that.

The mere thought of taking the subway into midtown Manhattan with three little kids made Flack groan aloud in both horror and protest. It was nothing short of sheer insanity however to drive into the city when there was a huge event going on. Not unless leaving for an event to you meant leaving at least three hours ahead of schedule, still being stuck in horrific traffic, and searching aimlessly for a parking spot once you arrived at your destination.

And the thought of sitting through an entire hour and a half or more of Disney music combined with figure skating - not exactly his cup of tea - and an arena full of shrieking children, well that elicited an even louder moan.

Rolling over onto his left hand side, he reached out and scooped his watch from its resting place on the nightstand and checked the time. Ten minutes to eight. Normally he didn't grumble about getting up that early. Hell, he was all but accustomed to getting up two hours or more before that in order to get ready for work or have time to sit and have a coffee with his wife and chat with the twins while they ate breakfast. And he'd been a pro at feedings and diaper changes on little or no sleep. But having not climbed into bed until three in the morning following a triple shift made the idea of getting up before at least noon hour a torturous thought. All Flack really wanted to do was shove some ear plugs into his ears or cover his head with a pillow to block out the noise and go back to sleep.

Yet at the same time, he didn't want to disappoint his girls. They didn't spend enough time with their daddy. And as aggravating as all of that noise was, those sounds all signified important aspects, and people, in his life. And he'd be damn miserable and heart broken if those noises weren't around anymore.

Few more minutes, he thought, dropping his watch onto the nightstand and rolling over onto his back. He placed a forearm over his eyes an attempted to drift off to sleep once more despite the escalation of noise coming from below.

"Mommy!" Kellan called - she had the highest pitched voice out of the twins- "When is daddy getting up? Can I go and get him? Can I? Can I go and wake him up?"

"Not until breakfast is nearly done," her mother replied. "Come and help Kallison and I."

"But I haven't seen daddy in forever!" Kellan cried in protest. In reality, the last time she'd seen him was eight am the morning before. But to kids, twenty four hours may as well been a lifetime.

"Daddy needs to get some sleep," Sam told her. "He didn't get to bed until really, really late. Give him a little longer, okay?"

"But I miss him!" Kellan argued. "I want to see him! Can't I go upstairs, mommy?"

"Kellan, stop. He's sleeping. Let daddy sleep."

"I just want to see him! I can lie beside him, mommy! 'Til he wakes up!"

"You are getting on my last nerve child," her mother warned.

"Please mommy?" the little girl begged. "PLEEEEEESE!"

"Fine!" Sam finally snapped. "Go! Just go! But don't you dare wake him up!"

Flack sighed heavily. He was tempted to yell out that it was a little too late for that. Because how in the hell could anyone sleep with all that goddamn racket?

He kept silent as he heard tiny footsteps climbing the stairs. The master bedroom was located at a dead straight away from the top of the stairs, a mere couple of feet from the landing, and he expected, and waited, for the door to swing open and his daughter to come strolling in. Instead, he heard the creaking of floor boards as Kellan took a sharp left at the top of the stairs and padded down the hallway.

Lifting his arm from over his eyes. Flack looked over at the door as he heard a slight ruckus in the bathroom down the hall. He was ready to get out of bed and check what his daughter was up to. In case she was getting into some kind of hellish mess. But no sooner did that though cross his mind, he heard her coming back down the hall, followed by the slight rattle of the doorknob to the master bedroom as Kellan prepared to make her entrance. He placed his arm back over his eyes once more. Leaving just enough space to see what his daughter was up to, without giving Kellan any indication that she was being watched.

The door swung open and Kellan quietly entered. Her dark hair framing her tiny face and tumbling over her shoulders and down her back. Clad in a light green nights gown with a huge picture of Tinkerbell gracing the front of it. Holly was tucked securely under her arms as she carried her small white plastic step stool that she used to reach the sink while brushing her teeth and cleaning herself up. She gently laid her doll on the bed and sat the stool on the floor. Then climbed up onto it and scrambled onto the bed.

This kid is damn smart, he thought, trying his best not to grin and give away the fact he wasn't actually asleep.

He clamped his eyes shut and remained completely motionless as his daughter scooped up her beloved doll and then proceeded to lie down beside him, a tiny arm resting across his stomach, her head on his chest. He could feel the heat radiating from her body. Smell the sweet scent of the kids shampoo that still lingered in her hair from her bath the night before. He could feel her soft breath on his chest through the thin fabric of the wife beater he'd worn to bed. He'd been so tired when he'd gotten home, that he'd stripped down to his undershirt and his boxers and climbed into bed. And promptly fell asleep.

Flack had just begun to doze off once again when he felt Kellan shift alongside of him. Followed by little fingers combing through his hair. Then rubbing and pulling gently at his ears. And then finally removing the chain and cross from under his wife beater. Fighting back a smile at the sound of Kellan whispering to Holly about how pretty daddy's necklace was.

Less then five minutes later, her tiny hand was on his chest, attempting to shake him awake. It was then that he abandoned all hope and thought of sleep and lifted his arm from his eyes and looked at his daughter.

"You were faking, daddy!" she cried, and gave that musical giggle that reminded him of her mother.

He smiled and reached up to run a hand over her head and down her hair. "Good morning, baby sweets," he said, as she leaned down to kiss him in greeting. "You have a good sleep?"

Kellan nodded. Then giggled again as she touched his cheek. "Your face is prickly, daddy!"

"That's 'cause I need to shave before we go out today. So my face doesn't scratch you and Kallison and mommy."

"Did you catch a lot of bad guys at work?" she asked curiously.

"A few," Flack replied.

"Are they in jail now?" Kellan asked.

He nodded and yawned noisily.

"You know what it means when someone yawns daddy?" she inquired. "It means that your brain isn't getting enough oxgen."

"It's oxygen," he corrected her with a grin. "And where did you hear that?"

"Uncle Sid told me," she said. "Long time ago. Is it true, daddy?"

"Probably. But you know why I'm yawning? Because my brain needs sleep."

"But today is New Years Eve, daddy!" she reminded him excitedly. "You can't sleep on New Years Eve!"

He sighed heavily and rubbed his weary eyes. "Were you a good girl all day yesterday?"

Kellan nodded. "All day," she assured him.

"I'm not going to hear something different from your mommy am I?"

She shook her head.

"Are you excited about going to see Disney on Ice today?"

"I am!" Kellan cried. "Do you think that we can get some glow in the dark necklaces, daddy? And some sparkly magic wands? Do you think we could get some hot dogs and some popcorn and some…"

"Whoa…whoa. Slow down. We're not even there yet. Let's wait until we get there and see what they have, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed. "This is pretty, daddy," she said, as she touched the comforter below her.

The one her mother had purchased along with matching throw pillows and shams and a bedskirt along with a couple of sheet sets. It was black, with raised white embroidery throughout in intricate swirl patterns. He'd been highly impressed when she'd shown it to him. But not as impressed when, with a sheepish grin, she'd brought out the new quilt she'd also purchased. It was hand sewn and the patches and satin trim were in bright, cheerful colours. It was the colours themselves that bothered him. Or colour, to be more precise. It wasn't the light blue or green or yellow that irritated him. It was all the damn pink. And all the bloody flowers.

"Mommy bought it a few days ago," he told his daughter.

"It's pretty. I like it. Can I get a new blanket and pillows for my room?"

"I thought you liked your Disney princess stuff. You all but begged us to get it for your birthday. You wanted to be exactly like Kallison."

"I want something different now," his daughter told him. "It's too boring. I want to be different. Can I get something new, daddy? Something like your blanket?"

"I'll talk to mommy about it," he told her, combing his fingers through her silky hair.

"I got invited to a birthday party, daddy!" Kellan excitedly announced. "The intation came yesterday. The mailman brought it! It had my name on it and everything! Kallison got one too!"

"The invitation," he corrected gently.

"That's what I said! The intation!"

He grinned and continued to stroke her hair. "Who was it from? Whose party is it?"

"It's from my friend Alicia. You 'member Alicia, right daddy? She sits with me during craft time and her cubby is right next to mine. You 'member her? She comes here with her mommy and daddy? Do you 'member?"

"I remember her," Flack confirmed.

Alicia was one of three special needs kids in the twins' class. One had cystic fibrosis, the other suffered from a seizure disorder. And Alicia, a tiny thing with a head full of blond curls and huge green eyes and thick glasses and a hearing aid in one ear and the face of an angel, had Down Syndrome. The girls had taken to their friend easily. They didn't seen anything different about her, other then the fact that Alicia didn't talk much and she wasn't as fast at doing things as the other kids and she had to have a special teacher come in and work with her.

But none of that mattered to Kellan or Kallison. Alicia was their friend and had been since pre-school. She came to the girls birthday parties and they went to hers. They exchanged Christmas cards and presents and Valentines cards. Alicia's parents brought their daughter over for play dates and spent time, as a family, with the Flacks during the warmer weather. Her father Jason was a member of the FDNY and her mother, Kayla, a school teacher who'd had to leave work to care for their special child. They were younger, by several years, then the Flacks. But they were good people who loved their only child and would do anything for her.

"She turns six in two weeks," Kellan told him. "Mommy says we can go to her party. Alicia is my special friend, daddy."

"She is? What makes her special? Do you know?"

Kellan nodded.

"Tell me what makes her special," Flack encouraged his daughter, interested in hearing her take on her friend's disability.

Kellan leaned forward, and as if she was sharing some top secret information, laid her hand on her father's chest and whispered, "She has glasses."

Flack smiled and pressed a kiss to his daughter's forehead.

"Some people make fun of her," Kellan told him. "That makes me feel sad. They call her names and stuff. The older kids at school. It makes me cry, daddy. Why do they call her names?"

"Because people are mean," Flack said. "They're scared of anyone or anything that is different. And when they're scared of stuff, they say things to protect themselves. But you know not to call her names, right? Not to repeat what the older kids are saying? That it's not nice to call people names and make them sad?"

Kellan nodded. "I stick up for her all the time. And then I get picked on too. And that's when Amanda beats them up. I want to beat them up too, but I'm too tiny."

"No fighting," Flack told her. "Mommy and daddy have told you that lots of times. No fighting. No punching or kicking or pulling hair. And especially no biting. And that goes for when you're with your sister, too. I don't want you guys laying smack downs on each other, okay?"

"But Kallison beats me up first!" Kellan argued.

"I know that she picks on you a lot. And I'm going to tell her about it. But no fighting. Under any circumstances. Alright?"

"But what if someone pushes me or hits me first?" she asked. "Then what?"

"Then and only then, I want you to push them or hit them back. And then I want you to either tell your teacher or come home and tell me or your mommy. But all this fighting with your sister? It's got to stop, okay? I don't like the way you two are always at each other over things. Understand?"

"Don't be mad at me, daddy."

"I'm not mad at you, baby sweets," he assured her, smoothing her hair down. "I love you. I just don't want you and your sister fighting all the time. That's all. Can you do that for me? Not fight so much?"

Kellan nodded.

"Good girl," he said, and sitting up, pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"Daddy?" the little girl asked, as she scooted across the bed on her rear end.

"What, baby?" he inquired.

"Were Kallison and I in mommy's tummy in this picture?" she asked curiously, picking up the wooden photo cube that sat on Sam's nightstand and pointing the photo of her parents, taken on the beach in Turks and Caicos, just after they were pronounced husband and wife.

It was almost seven years since that day. When they'd abandoned their plans of a massive formal wedding in favour of something smaller and more intimate. Much smaller, in fact. Instead of over a hundred guests, they had four. Five if you counted Amanda who was only five months old at the time. Instead of a church ceremony, they went with a gazebo on a bluff over looking the beach at sunset. Instead of a Cinderella type dress with a cathedral veil and flowing train, Samantha had chosen a simple yet stunning cream coloured slip style dress with spaghetti straps and a dangerously low cut back embellished with seashells and fresh water pearls.

She'd worn her hair up in a loose sweep and adorned with an orange Hibiscus flower. A fingertip length veil tucked into the bottom of the sweep with a simple seashell studded comb. And instead of his dress blues, Flack had gone in a pair of linen navy blue pants and an un-tucked white dress shirt. It had been a short and simple ceremony preformed by a Catholic priest native to Turks and Caicos. But the scenery of the island and the presence of those they loved the most had made that wedding absolutely incredible. While their guests had gone home after four days -two before the wedding, two after- the bride and groom had stayed for another week and a half. Enjoying their time in paradise.

And enjoying each other.

"Nope," Flack answered his daughter's question. "You guys didn't get into mommy's tummy until almost a year later."

"What took so long?" she asked. "Didn't you want babies right away?"

"We did. But things didn't work out the way we wanted to and we had to wait longer."

"Why?"

Flack wasn't about to tell a five year about struggling with a massively low sperm count -something he didn't even realize he had until eight months into a marriage and no use of birth control and still no pregnancy had sent them looking for answers- caused by medication he took after the bombing. The important thing was that things were straightened around and in the end, he received two beautiful, amazing little girls.

"It just didn't happen quickly," he told her. "I guess God wanted us to wait. So we could have you and Kallison. If it had have happened sooner, we would have had a different baby. And mommy and I love you and your sister. So things turned out great, don't you think?"

"I guess…but how come mommy got to have two babies and some mommies only get to have one?" Kellan asked, her big blue eyes filled with curiosity.

"I guess that God thought mommy should have two at once. Make things extra special for her."

"And how did Kallison and I get into mommy's tummy?"

Flack groaned inwardly. He had gotten used to the fact that ever since his girls were old enough to string words together, they'd always enjoyed playing twenty questions with him and their mother. Mostly with him, though. But he hadn't been expecting THAT kind of question for at least another few years.

"Well…" he chose his words carefully. "You see…mommies and daddies love each other and when they want to show each other how much, they do things. And sometimes when they do things, babies come along nine months later."

"Why nine months?" she inquired.

"That's just how long it takes to make sure things are working properly in a baby," he told her.

"What kinds of things do mommy and you do?" Kellan asked. "'Cause maybe you can do them again so I can have a baby brother or sister."

"There's more to it then that, baby sweets. Sometimes even though mommies and daddies do things, they still can't have babies."

"Why?"

"Because it just happens that way."

"What kind of things do you do?" she pressed.

"Things that you are way too young to know about," he told her and tousled her hair. "When you're a few years older, come back and ask me then. Okay?"

"Do babies come from sex?" she asked innocently.

Flack blinked.

"Amanda says that babies come from sex," Kellan told him. "And that's when mommies and daddies go to night nights together but don't sleep. They do stuff. What kind of stuff do they do, daddy? What does sex mean?"

"Kellan, you are way too young to asking stuff like that. Five year olds don't talk about that kind of thing, okay?"

"Why?"

"Because they just don't. When you're a bit older, come back to me and ask about that stuff, okay?"

"Is it because you don't know what sex is and you need to go ask mommy?" she asked.

Flack bit his lip to keep from laughing. "How about we watch some Sponge Bob Square Pants until mommy comes and gets us for breakfast?" he asked, hoping she'd take the bait.

"Sponge Bob isn't on now," Kellan told him. "Dora is on."

"Then how about we watch some Dora?" he asked, grabbing the remote control off the night stand and flicking on the television.

"Do you like Dora, daddy?" Kellan inquired, as she moved closer to him.

"She's alright," he replied, finding the local children's channel before setting the remote on his stomach and wrapping an arm around his daughter's tiny body.

"Daddy?"

"What, baby?"

"What does that thing on the front lawn say?"

"What thing, Kellan?"

"That thing. The sign. What does it say?"

"It says for sale," he told her.

"What does that mean?"

"It means we're going to be moving. Remember? Mommy and I told you and Kallison about this a couple of days ago."

"Oh yeah…" she said, playing with the large cross that dangled from his chain. Her eyes riveted on the television where Dora and Boots were well into an adventure Flack was sure his daughter had seen at least a dozen times already. "We won't have to leave all our stuff here when we move will we? Like all our toys and our clothes and Wiener?"

"I already told you this. Everything we own comes with us. Everything." In fact, he'd spent over an hour explaining things to a distraught Kellan just two nights before.

She had assumed, because they were leaving their house and going to a different one, that all of their possessions and their pets stayed behind for the new people moving in. And the mere thought of that had devastated her. So her father had sat in the middle of her princess bed, his tiny daughter in his lap, rocking her back and forth as he assured her, and promised her, that nothing was being left behind.

"But what if the new people want all of our stuff?" she asked.

"They won't. And if they do, they can't have it. Okay?"

"Promise?"

"I promise. Don't worry about stuff like that. Nothing like that is going to happen. When we go, all of our stuff goes too."

"Will we have to go to a new school?"

Flack nodded.

"And make new friends?"

"You can still have all your old friends," he told her. "You just won't see them every day at school. You'll make new friends."

"What if no one likes me, daddy?"

He gave her a gentle, reassuring smile and laid a hand on the top of her head. "Everyone will love you, Kellan. What's not to love?"

She smiled brightly and laid her head on his chest. "Your heart is talking to me, daddy," she announced.

"Yeah? What's it telling you?"

"It's saying that it loves me lots and lots and lots."

He grinned and tightened his hold on her. "That's because it's true," he said.


"Is daddy still going to be a policeman when we move, mommy?" Kallison asked, in her bare feet and Care Bear pyjamas as she stood on a kitchen chair pushed up against the island.

"He's going to talk to someone on Monday about that," Sam replied, as she stood behind her daughter, holding Kallison firmly by the hand as she helped the little girl shred half a block of cheddar cheese.

"Does he want to be a policeman still?"

"Yep. He just has to go and ask if it's okay for him to work there. To see if they want him to work for them."

"And you're going to work for Auntie Stel?"

Sam nodded. "You'll get to see more of her now that we're going to be moving closer to her."

"But I have to go to a different school. So I won't get to see Amanda and DJ all the time. Or Uncle Danny an Aunt M."

"We're not going that far, Kallison. It's not the other side of the world. We'll be able to come and visit them here in New York City and they'll be able to come and visit us in New Jersey."

"Are we going to like it in New Jersey?"

"I hope so," Sam said. "I think it's exciting. Moving to a different city, moving into a new house. Meeting all kinds of new friends. Don't you find that exciting?"

"I guess," Kallison sighed. "But it makes me sad that we have to leave this house and all of our friends."

"I know," her mother said, and pressed a tender kiss to the top of her head. "But the important thing is that we're all together. That mommy and daddy and you and Kellan are all together. We're still a family no matter where we live."

"And Wiener and Gracie and George, too," Kallison reminded her.

"Yep. Them too. We can't forget about them."

Their task finished, Sam set the full container of grated cheese to the side along with the other toppings they'd prepared for their breakfast burritos and rinsed the grater before dropping it into the open dishwasher. She had already cracked open a dozen eggs and whisked them up in a bowl that sat on the counter by the stove, and as she went to prepare them, Kallison grabbed her plastic cup of juice that sat on the island, and took a seat on the chair.

"Mommy?" she asked, sipping her juice and kicking her legs back and forth as she watch her mom make scramble eggs.

"What, sweetie?"

"How did you and daddy meet?" she asked curiously.

"Daddy and I met at work," Sam replied, pushing the sleeves of her ruby red satin pyjamas up to her elbows. "A long time ago."

"How long ago?"

"Nine years ago. We met at the crime lab. Daddy was working on a case and he needed my help to figure some things out."

"What kind of case?"

"Just some scuba divers that got into trouble. Auntie M and I had to do some tests on star fish."

"That must have been so cool!" Kallison gushed. "Was daddy nice to you when you met him?"

"Actually, he was kind of mean," Sam admitted.

The little girl's eyes went wide. "He was? How come?"

"He was in a bad mood that day, I guess. He needed more sleep or some coffee. Or both."

Kallison giggled at that. "Were you boyfriend and girlfriend right away?"

"Nope. Not for a long time. We were friends."

"Why weren't you boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Well, daddy had another girlfriend back then. And mommy wasn't looking for a boyfriend. So we just decided to be friends instead of anything else."

"But didn't you find daddy cute?"

"Of course I did. As soon as I met him I thought he was really, really, really cute. And when he wasn't so mean anymore, he was smart and funny and he made me laugh a lot. So we just hung out together and did things and had a good time with one another."

"What kind of things?" Kallison asked.

"We went out to dinner and to hockey games and to the movies. Stuff like that."

"That's stuff boyfriends and girlfriends do," Kallison informed her. "Did you guys kiss?"

"Not until we were boyfriend and girlfriend," her mother said. It was a slight lie, but her daughter didn't need to know that. "And that didn't happen for a year."

"That's a long time!" Kallison cried. "Why so long?"

Sam shrugged. "Your daddy wasn't ready to have me as his girlfriend. He was with someone else and he wasn't sure what he wanted to do."

"Well I'm glad he picked you, mommy. 'Cause if he didn't, Kellan and I wouldn't even be here!"

"I'm glad that he picked me, too. Because I can't imagine what my life would be like if I didn't have you or Kellan. Or your daddy. He's a pretty great guy."

"Daddy's funny," Kallison said. "He tells fart jokes and talks in funny voices when he reads us stories. I'd miss daddy if he wasn't here anymore."

"So would I," Sam told her daughter. "He's a pretty good guy to have around. Who else would we get to get things off of the high shelves and carry stuff that's really heavy?"

"Good to know I'm appreciated," Flack commented, as he entered the kitchen, carrying Kellan on his back. Her arms wrapped securely around his leg and her legs around his torso. Holly Hobby in one of his hands.

"Hi, daddy!" Kallison greeted cheerfully, as she scrambled into a standing position on the chair.

"Hey pumpkin," he said, bending down to kiss her good morning. "You sleep good?"

She nodded, her ponytail bobbing up and down. "We're making breakfast burritos!" she told him proudly.

"You're helping mommy?"

"Yep. She let me grate the cheese and put the salsa in a bowl and set the table!"

"Sounds good. You behaved yourself yesterday? You and your sister were good?" Flack asked his daughter, while looking towards his wife for the answer.

"They were great," Sam confirmed, as she turned the temperature down on the burner below the frying pan the scrambled eggs were sizzling in. "No violence or blood shed. A couple of little arguments over someone touching the other's food or staring at them funny, but nothing major."

"We went to McDonalds, daddy!" Kellan exclaimed. "We ate Chicken McNuggets and fries and some ice cream and then we played in the balls and then we came home and played outside in the snow and made snow men and snow angels and Kallison and I had a snow ball fight with mommy! Then we came in and had hot chocolate!"

"With marsh mellows!" Kallison added.

"Sounds like you guys had a great time," Flack said, as he bent over at the waist, and with a firm hold on Kellan's sides, allowed her to slide off of his shoulders and over his head, until she was dangling upside down and laughing hysterically, her face going bright red. Then he quickly and effortlessly flipped her over and settled her down onto her feet.

"That was fun, daddy!" she squealed. "Can I have some juice, please?"

"Get up there on the chair with your sister," he instructed. "And I'll get you something to drink."

"I don't want to share a chair with her!" Kallison protested. "She smells!"

"I do not," Kellan argued. "You smell! You smell like poop!"

"Girls…" Sam said in a strict warning tone. "Enough."

"I want my own chair!" Kellan cried.

"Why do you two always have to be so difficult?" Flack asked, grabbing a chair from the table and placing it at the island. Across from Kallison. So that the counter space was acting like a barrier. "You girls get that from your mother," he said, helping Kellan onto the chair and setting Holly Hobby down on the island.

Sam snorted.

"Don't deny it, babe," her husband said, as he walked over to fridge, opened it and pulled out a container of orange, strawberry and banana flavoured juice. Shutting the fridge, he went to the sink and snagged a bright pink plastic cup and a glass from the drain board and filled both with the light orange coloured liquid.

"I am not difficult," Sam informed him.

"Right…everyone knows you're just the biggest pain in my…"

"Daddy?" Kallison called, interrupting him before he could get the last word out. "What was your girlfriend like when you met mommy?"

"What girlfriend?" he asked, setting a drink down in front of Kellan.

"Mommy said that you had a girlfriend when you met. What was she like?"

"Annoying," Flack told her. "Very annoying."

"Was she pretty?"

"She was," he admitted. "She had light red wavy hair and blue eyes."

"And no brain," Sam mumbled.

"She wasn't as pretty as mommy though," Flack said to his daughter.

His wife laughed. "Good save, Lieutenant. You just saved yourself a lot of lonely nights parked on the couch. You should tell them all about the fancy party we went to. To try and catch the bad guys. And how this girlfriend of yours caught us together."

"She didn't catch us. It's not like we were doing anything. She just thought that were going to do something. And who knows…if she never had of walked out onto that patio when she did…"

"It was a kiss, Don. Don't get ahead of yourself. I wasn't about to go home with you after work. We'd only known each other a month. I'm not THAT easy."

"It was a fancy party?" Kallison asked. "Did you look pretty? What did you wear?"

"Your mommy looked beautiful," Flack told her. "She had on this sparkly gold dress that tied around her neck and had this little train and she had on gold shoes and her hair was up. She was amazingly beautiful."

Sam smiled as she felt her husband's arm circle her waist from behind and his lips press a kiss to the back of her head. "I can't believe you'd actually remember that," she said.

"Why wouldn't I?" he asked. "You looked incredible that night. I mean, not that you don't look incredible all the time. Just…you know," he kissed her cheek and nuzzled her ear.

"Daddy was very handsome that night," Sam told her daughters. "He was wearing a tuxedo."

"Like when Uncle Danny and Auntie M got married?" Kellan inquired. "Those were pretty pictures Auntie M showed us."

"Daddy looked just like he did at that wedding," Sam said.

"You must have been real cute daddy!" Kallison exclaimed. "No wonder mommy kissed you even though you had a girlfriend!"

Sam laughed. "Well…he actually kissed me. He took advantage of a weak moment."

"Weak moment? What weak moment? Only weak moment you were having was because you were all flustered at my James Bond hotness."

She rolled her eyes. "We were arguing over the case and you kissed me to shut me up," she argued.

"Well…sort of. I mean, yeah, I wanted you to shut up. But I really kissed you because I wanted to and shutting you up was my excuse to do it. And don't act all innocent. You kissed me back."

"I was flustered," Sam defended herself. "You're lucky I kissed you back and didn't smack you across the face or kick you in the…"

"On that happy thought," Flack said. "Don't be teaching our daughters things like that."

She grinned and moved the scrambled eggs around the frying pan. "Did you sleep okay?" she asked, reaching for a mug that sat on the counter next to the stove and taking a sip of now lukewarm tea. "I felt you come into bed and I knew it was really late."

"I didn't get in until just after three," Flack told her. "I took a shower in the girls' bathroom so I wouldn't wake you up. Then I checked on them and fixed their blankets and went to bed. I think I was out the second my head hit the pillow. Good sleep, just not long enough. What about you?"

"We had a busy day yesterday," Sam said. "I was in bed by ten."

"Explains why I got no answer when I phoned around eleven to check on things."

"Sorry babe, I just wasn't in the mood for phone s-e-x last night."

"Wouldn't have been able to get away with it anyway. The dragon lady was wandering around. I wouldn't have been able to lock myself in the bathroom for very long without her getting suspicious."

Sam laughed. "You are so disturbed. Do you know that? Seriously mentally disturbed."

"Wouldn't be the first time we did something like that," he reminded her. "So you guys had a busy day and you were in bed early…"

"And now I'm a little achy and crampy this morning," she said with a sigh.

"You been taking your meds properly?"

"Religiously," she vowed. "I think it's just from stress and lack of proper sleep over the holidays. I'll be fine."

"What about the headaches?" he asked, kissing the top of the head.

"They're coming and going," she replied. "I woke up this morning with a horrific one. Right at the back of my head," she laid her hand over the spot. "It felt like someone was squeezing my brain over and over again. But I took some Tylenol and it went away. And my eyes were a little messed this morning," she emphasized the last point by gesturing to the deep purple, rectangular framed glasses perched on her face.

"Any weird shit going on with your balance or your coordination or anything?" he inquired, keeping his voice down so the girls wouldn't hear their conversation. "Last time you had those issues."

"I haven't noticed anything like that," she said. "No tingling in my face and no numbness with my tongue either. Like I said, it's probably just stress. Once things get settled and we've got things under control, I'll start to feel better."

"You start getting any of that weird stuff happening, you call that neurologist right away? Understand me?"

"Yes, daddy," she answered, as she grabbed a plate resting on the counter and set to work dumping scrambled eggs onto it.

"Don't be smart, Sammie. This isn't something to joke about. You don't play around with stuff like this."

Switching the stove off and setting the frying pan on the back burner, she turned to him with a smile on her face and the plate held out to him. "Can you help the girls make their burritos please?" she asked.

He sighed heavily and took the plate from her. "I'm not messing around," he told her. "Why aren't you taking this seriously?"

"Kellan doesn't like sour cream on hers," Sam said, brushing the question off as she moved towards the drain board and removed two plastic Sesame Street plates. She carried them to the island and sat them in front of the girls, then went back to the sink and got two dinner plates from the cupboard.

"You know, you're damn lucky I love you as much as I do," Flack told her, and went over to the girls, who were already squabbling over who got the bigger sized soft shell tacos. "Because if I didn't…"

"You'd have committed me a long time ago," she finished for him. And immediately regretted it.

"Oh I'm sorry," he said, anger creeping into his voice. "Did you mean to confuse me with Zack?"

"I didn't mean that the way it came out," Sam defended herself. "I meant it as a joke."

"Yeah? Well it wasn't funny," he told her, waiting for the girls to assemble the shells on their plate before spooning eggs onto them.

"Well is it my fault you don't have a sense of humour?" she asked.

"Don't start, Samantha…just don't start. Be quiet. Stop while you're ahead, okay?"

"Maybe you need to go back to bed and try waking up on the right side of it," she suggested.

"Maybe you need to…"

"Don't be mad, daddy," Kellan pleaded. "Don't be mad at mommy."

"I'm not mad at her," he assured her daughter. "She's just being a little mean right now."

"Well stop it!" Kallison implored. "No one should be mean!"

"You're right," Flack told her, and setting the plate of eggs down on the counter, supervised while they got their toppings for their burritos. Things started out calm with the twins, but even something as simple as reaching for grated cheese at the same time could potentially turn into a volatile situation.

"Do you want me to make yours for you?" Sam asked her husband, as she brought the plates to the island.

"I know how to make my own food," he replied.

"I realize that," she said. "I just…I don't know…wanted to do something for you, maybe."

"You've done enough for me," he told her.

"Fine…" she said, setting a plate down in front of him before attending to her own breakfast. "I was just trying to be nice. You don't have to be so nasty."

"I'm not being nasty," he said. "I just said that…"

"Please don't fight," Kellan begged. "I don't like it when you and mommy fight, daddy."

"No one is fighting," he assured her, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"This has got to stop," Sam said, as she finished preparing her breakfast and walking past him. "We can't be doing this in front of them. You know that."

He nodded in agreement, and catching her by the wrist as she stepped past him, pulled her into him and covered her lips in a long, soft kiss. "Just promise me you'll tell me if things get bad," he said.

"I promise," she told him, reaching up to touch his face softly.

He gave a small smile and watched as she headed to the table and sat down.

"I wouldn't keep something like that from you," she said.

He sighed. Somehow I doubt that, he thought.


Danny and Lindsay were looking forward to getting out of the city. It was only for two days, and it was just too a small ranch style bed and breakfast in Lake Placid, but after the insanity that was the holidays and the life altering news their best friends had dumped upon them, two days were going to seem like a lifetime. DJ and Makenna had already been dropped off at their grandparents and Amanda was excited about getting to spend some time with her Uncle Donnie and Auntie B and the girls. Especially when spending time with them included getting to take the subway to see Disney on Ice.

Danny glanced over at his wife as she sat in the front passenger seat of their SUV, her elbow resting on the door, the side of her head in her hand. And a permanent frown on her face. That damn frown had been there, along with many tears, for the past four days. It was starting to get on Danny's nerves. Once he'd gotten over the shock of his best friend announcing he was moving his family to New Jersey, and then calling Danny up to tell him two days later that he'd handed in his resignation, Danny had come to realize that the Flacks moving to a different state as not the end of the world. They were less then two hours away. It wasn't as if they were moving to a different coast and could only be visited via an airplane. Or a hell of a tedious drive. And while he'd miss seeing Flack at a crime scene, miss those smart ass comments and that Queens accent, Danny knew that Flack was doing what was in the best interest of his family. And any decent family man had to make difficult decision sometimes.

"You know," he said to his wife. "Keep frowning like that, it's gonna be a permanent look for you."

Lindsay glared at him.

"It's not like someone's died," Danny told her. "Not the end of the world that they're moving to New Jersey. You can visit whenever you want, call them whenever you want. It's just long distance. So what?"

"That is not the point, Danny," she said. "I know that it's not a far drive and we can still email and IM each other and talk on the phone. It's just that…I don't know…I just feel like I lost my best friend."

"You haven't lost her. She's just moving away. She's not dead. It's not like you're never going to see her again, Montana. It's just that you weren't be working together. And trust me, I'm going to miss that too. I always got a kick outta working with Brooklyn. The way she used to get all hot under the collar with suspects and her and Flack used to get into them disagreements about how they were each handling the case. And that accent?" he laughed. "I'm gonna miss that accent. How strong it gets when she's pissed. Mostly at Flack."

Lindsay managed a grin. "They do fight a lot," she said.

"They love each other, though. They fight 'cause they're so much alike and hate to admit it. They are like the proverbial match and gasoline. Get them together when they're both in a mood and BOOM."

"It's going to be weird nothing having them at work," Lindsay sighed. "Not having Flack around to make you laugh with all his sarcastic comments and that arrogant, kiss my ass smirk he gets from time to time. I will never forget that time when we had that cheerleader in interrogation. The one that made the poisonous pill and an antidote to get back at that guy for making fun of her when she was heavy. What was her name?"

"Eat a salad girl?" Danny laughed. "Paula Tolomeo. She was a strange one. Mind you, after she'd lost all that weight, she was pretty hot."

Lindsay frowned. "What I was trying to get at was that I will never forget the look on Flack's face when she started that chant in interrogation."

"I'll never forget the look on his face when that guy sunk that million dollar basket," Danny said. "Come to think of it, we bet fifty on that and he only had forty on him. And I never got my last ten bucks."

"That was like nearly ten years ago now," Lindsay pointed out.

"Ten bucks is ten bucks!" Danny exclaimed. "You know how much that is with interest now? He could pay for Amanda to take a year at some fancy private school."

"Not quite," Lindsay said. "But it would buy you a whole lot of beer."

"I think I'm going to buy him a farewell card and write in it, hey moron, where's my ten bucks?"

Lindsay smirked. "You love him, Danny. Admit it."

"I do," Danny said with a heavy sigh. "Like a brother. And as much as it's going to kill me to see him off, I know he's doing the right thing. He's doing it for his wife and his girls. His family means the world to him and there's nothing he wouldn't do for them. You should be thankful your best friend has a man that loves her and respects her as much as he does."

Lindsay smiled. "I'd never looked at Flack that way," she said. "You know, especially after…"

"He f-…screwed up. We all screw up from time to time. The man paid his dues, made amends. The important thing is that that family is still together and those two girls have two parents that love each other, and them. They're a happy family, Linds. And them being happy is important to me and should be important to you."

"Of course it is," she said.

"Then let them go gracefully and peacefully," her husband told her. "No more crying or holding grudges against them for doing what they go to do. It's their lives and their doing what they feel needs to be done. Just let them go."

Lindsay sighed heavily and as Danny pulled the SUV into the private lot across from the red brick and stone row houses, her eyes fell on the For Sale sign that graced the Flacks snowy front lawn.

Letting them go wasn't going to be as easy for his wife as Danny thought.

In fact, it was going to be the hardest thing Lindsay Messer ever had to do.


Thanks to everyone that is reading and reviewing! I appreciate each and every one of you! Even the lurkers! But please R and R folks! It's greatly appreciated.

Special thanks to:

HighQueenReicheru

Laurzz

Hope4sall

Afrozenheart412

ForestAngel

Laplandgurl

muchmadness

TwinkeyRocks

IluvPeterPetrelli

Soccer-bitch

Bluehaven4220