DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CSI: NY OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. I DO HOWEVER OWN SAMANTHA FLACK AND KELLAN AND KALLISON FLACK. AMANDA MESSER BELONGS TO THE FABULOUS LAURZZ


COUNTDOWN TO 2017: AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING

"You set my soul at ease
Chased darkness out of view
Left your desperate spell on me
Say you feel it too
I know you do
I've got so much more to give
This can't die, I yearn to live
Pour yourself all over me
And I'll cherish every drop here on my knees

I wanna love you forever
And this is all I'm asking of you
10,000 lifetimes together
Is that so much for you to do?
'Cause from the moment that I saw your face
And felt the fire in your sweet embrace
I swear I knew.
I'm gonna love you forever."
-I Wanna Love You Forever, Jessica Simpson


The afternoon had turned out to be less traumatic then Flack was expecting.

They'd left the house shortly afternoon hour, and after dropping the car off at Ridgewood's Main Street subway station, boarded a twelve thirty train into Manhattan. The train was empty when they first got on, but as the ride progressed and stops were made at platforms along the way, it was packed before the subway even reached lower Manhattan. Jammed mostly with parents and excited children, clad in Disney costumes in honour of their favourite characters. Both the twins and Amanda had insisted that they were their get ups from the previous Halloween to the show. Flack had rolled his eyes at the suggestion of getting his kids dressed in costumes, then stared in horror when he realized that the girls weren't joking. They were adamant about it, in fact. They'd gone into their closets and yanked those wrinkled and dusty costumes out from underneath piles of crap and begged and pleaded for him to help them get ready. And they just didn't stop with the outfits. They wanted their hair done and wanted to wear some of mommy's makeup. Be completely in character.

Thank God, his wife had taken over. Because he just couldn't bring himself to doll his kids up as Cinderella and Tinkerbell. Hallow-weird as he called it, came but once a year and that was fine with him. So he'd sat and had a beer while watching an afternoon Rangers came -playing out of town in Boston- while the women in his life, including Amanda, giggled at the kitchen table, while Sam painted their fingernails with sparkly polish of various colours and put a little blush and lip gloss and eye shadow on them. Nothing extreme. He'd made it very clear to her that under no circumstances was she to tart his kids up. He wasn't raising no Jon Benet style beauty pageant kids. They were normal five year olds and that's the way it was going to stay. He didn't want them looking like they were miniature teenagers.

Sam had abided by his wishes. The girls and Amanda looked adorable with their hair in curls and their eyelids glistening and their cheeks and lips slightly rosy and their nails done in an acceptable, classy shade of light pink. With a little bit of glitter. The girls had to have glitter. It was a must. And then with snowsuits pulled on over the costumes -Tinkerbell for Kellan, Cinderella for Kallison and Belle for Amanda- they'd finally been able to leave the house. Only to have all three girls announce, as soon as they were buckled in, that they had to go to the bathroom. It was a short ten minute drive to the Main Street station, followed by a frantic dash to the washroom for Sam and the three little ones she had in tow.

The Disney show itself had been somewhat pleasant. There'd be a short argument over who was going to sit on his lap. It was a common fight between the girls, but having Amanda there meant there was three young ladies vying for his attention. Amanda won out in the end. Much to the dismay of Kellan and Kallison, who'd both been near tears until Sam gently explained to them that they got to see daddy all the time. And Amanda's daddy was out of town and she wanted, and deserved, some attention from her Uncle Donnie. Once the skating got underway, the music was excessively loud and there was a little too much shrieking and squealing for Flack's liking, but just seeing the looks of awe and wonderment in his kids' faces made it all tolerable. The pure joy that radiated from them as they enjoyed not only the entertainment but their hot dogs and pop and popcorn, their glow in the dark bracelets and necklaces adorning their necks and wrists and light up Princess wands in their hands, was enough to bring a smile to his face.

The trip home however, was turning out to be harder then Flack had ever imagined it would be. They walked the two blocks to the appropriate station -Flack having to carry Kellan after she announced her legs were too sleepy to walk anymore- and then had to wait for four trains to go by before there was any room for them to get on. And even then, by the time it came time to board, there were only two seats available. So after getting Kallison and Amanda situated in the window seat , Sam took the remaining seat and her husband gently placed a sleeping Kellan in her lap.

"Thank you for taking me to Disney on Ice, Uncle Donnie," Amanda gushed, as she and Kallison shared Sam's Ipod. "And for buying me all kinds of stuff. I love my necklace and bracelets and my crown!"

"Did you have a good time?" he asked her, as he stood in front of his small family, a hand on the metal bar to the right side of his head.

Amanda nodded excitedly. "I had lots and lots of fun," she told him. "Daddy said he was glad it was you going and not him."

Flack laughed. "Why am I not surprised? You're dad is such a p…"

"Don't even say it," Sam said, slugging him playfully in the stomach.

"What?" he asked innocently. "What was I going to say? I was going to say anything raunchy. I was just going to say that you're dead is such a prude."

"That is not what you were going to say and you know it!" his wife laughed. "Watch your mouth around the girls, please."

"Yes, dear," he said, and leaning down, kissed her softly. "You're bossy, you know that?"

"I keep you in line," Sam told him. "And you love it."

He smiled and reached out to run his knuckles along her cheek and winked at her. "How does she sleep like that?" he asked, nodding down at Kellan. "She just falls asleep in the weirdest places and at the weirdest times. I don't get how she manages that."

"She tires out easily. The heaviness of her snowsuit and her boots," Sam reminded him, as she peeled the wool hat off of her daughter's head and pressed a kiss to Kellan's sweaty forehead. "She's so tiny, Donnie. A lot tinier than Kallison."

"She's getting bigger. God knows she eats a lot. Constantly. And you heard what the doctor said. She's gaining weight, getting taller. She's actually on the stupid growth chart now. I know she's in the bottom five percent, but it's the first time since she was born that she made it on the damn thing."

"But she's just so small," Sam sighed, smoothing hair away from Kellan's forehead. "And she gets sick so easily."

"It's just the way it is with her, babe. That whole compromised immune system thing. But she's doing a lot better. She's not missing as much school as she used to, she's getting into more activities, there's been less trips to the doctor and the ER. Ask me, she's doing awesome."

"I called the gymnastics club that we enrolled them in yesterday," she told him.

"And?"

"And they said that when we do move, it's no problem having their memberships transferred anywhere in New Jersey. Just that we'll have pay a transfer fee."

"That's fine," he said. "How much is it?"

"A hundred bucks. Per child."

Flack snorted and shook his head. "That's ridiculous. Why is it our kids can't have cheaper hobbies? Why is it always these things where you have to pay huge entrance and enrolment fees and buy them outfits and what not that cost a fortune? Why can't they do things that aren't so pricey?"

"Because they're kids," Sam said. "And kids are expensive."

"No. Girls are expensive," he corrected her. "Bodysuits for gymnastics and costumes and new skates for figure skating and tap shoes and clothes for dance. Cheapest thing they do is soccer."

"I want to play hockey, daddy," Kallison told him.

"Now see?" Flack asked his wife. "Now hockey is a real sport."

"Hockey is ten times more expensive then all of their things put together," Sam informed him. "You play for the department. You know how pricey equipment is. How often the stuff needs to be replaced. Especially the skates and the sticks. Look at how expensive the skates are you just bought."

"Yeah…but those are CCM Tacks, babe. Best of the best. We're talking little girls' skates. How expensive could they be?"

She arched her eyebrows.

"I say she wants to play hockey, let her play hockey. I'll gladly get up at seven in the mornings on my days off to run her to practices and to games. No problem. I will gladly sit in the stand and sip coffee while watching my baby girl kick everyone's butts. 'Cause you know she'd be awesome. She can already skate really well. She's destined to be a goal scorer. Like her old man."

"You're a power forward," Sam told him. "Because you crush people and punish them."

"Hey…who is and who has been the highest goal scorer in the department six years running? Yours truly. I'm the NYPD's Gretzky, baby. Admit it, you love coming and watching me play. Turns you on to see me in all the equipment and manhandling people."

"I have to admit, there is something quite sexy about hockey players," she said. "Especially when you've been having intimate relations with your favourite hockey player for close to nine years now."

He grinned and taped a fingertip against the end of her nose. "You're a dirty girl, Samantha."

She smiled up at him. "You know…I should have worn my Tinkerbell costume today, too."

"Which one? The naughty one or the family one?" he asked curiously.

"I only have the naughty one still."

"You still have that thing?" he asked. "Where?"

"Somewhere in our closet. Packed away."

"You know what? As soon as we get home, you are going upstairs and digging that thing out. Happy New Year to me later."

"Actually…" she said. "We kind of, sort of have plans for tonight."

Flack arched an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to do a quiet New Years Eve. I wanted to do the whole Times Square thing and you said you wanted something calm."

"And I do. And this is going to be something calm. Not a lot of people and craziness. Just a small gathering of people. Nothing major. A little house party that we got invited to about a week ago."

"And you're just telling me now?"

She smiled.

"Why didn't you mention it sooner? Run it by me? It would have been nice to know that my wife made plans for us. And what about a sitter? I guess you have all that worked out too?"

"Jasmine and Elijah are coming to stay at your house while…"

Flack shook his head. "No…no, no, no, no. I told you about my issues with Jasmine. Every time she watches the girls, she sends them and Elijah upstairs to fend for themselves while she gets Mac's son over so the two of them can get busy on our couch."

"I already spoke to Jasmine yesterday," Sam assured him. "And she promised me that Michael will not come over to our house while she is babysitting."

"And you believe that crap? If you believe that crap, Sammie, you got serious problems."

"She swore to me that he was going to be at his own party tonight, in the city, and that he wasn't going to come anywhere near Queens. Come on, Donnie. Don't be like that. We never go anywhere, just the two of us. We never have dates anymore. Everywhere we go it always involves the kids. Wouldn't you like to go somewhere, just us?"

"We're going away to New Jersey next weekend," he reminded her. "That isn't enough?"

She shook her head and smiled sweetly at him. "It's not like we're going far or staying over night somewhere," she said. "We can always leave as soon as I get my New Years kiss."

"You can't get a New Years kiss at home?" he asked.

Sam pouted dramatically.

He sighed. "Fine…we'll go out for New Years Eve. It'll actually be nice to get out of the house without the kids. Do something adult. Whose party at we going to?"

"We're going to Mari's," she told him.

A frown crossed Flack's face. "Disney on Ice and Hawkes in one day? You're an evil woman."

"I know that the two of you aren't the best of buddies and you don't normally hang out. But would it kill you guys to play nice?"

"We always do, babe. It's not like we don't get along. We get along just fine. It's just…I don't know. It's just that we're so different. We don't like the same things. We don't share any interests. Even when we do get together, all we talk about is work. And Hawkes and I aren't exactly on the same page when it comes to the job. He's book smarts and I'm street smarts. We don't see eye to eye on how to handle things."

"It's a house party, Donnie. It's not like you have to sit in a room with him all night and find stuff to talk about."

"I know…I just…" Flack sighed. "Hawkes just makes me feel stupid. Not intentionally or anything. But when I'm around him, he's got this brainiac way of making me feel like an idiot. Like he thinks he's way up here…" he put his hand at eye level. "…and I'm way down here," he dropped his hand to his knee.

"He certainly doesn't think that way about you," Sam assured her husband. "And I don't see him actually treating you that way."

"It's just the way I feel when I'm around him, Sammie," Flack told her. "I've always felt that way around him. Like that time I told you about in that magic store when me and him were looking for that magic set when Mac was trying to nail whoever was killing people tied to Luke Blade. I told you about that. How I popped off some question about Houdini being proud that his name is mafia lingo and Hawkes looked at me like he thought I was both stupid and crazy."

"And you told me how you handled it. How you got a little snotty about the differences between RNA and DNA or whatever."

"It's not that I got snotty…"

Sam stared at him pointedly.

"Okay…so I may have gotten just a little snotty. But that Rupert guy so backed my theory up. And I bet you Houdini would be proud of the impact he's had."

Sam sighed.

"What? Don't look at me the same way Hawkes did."

"I'm not. And the difference between RNA and DNA is that RNA is…"

"Don't wanna hear it, babe. I didn't want to hear it then and I don't want to hear it now. I'm the detective, you're the scientist. For a good reason. You're the smart one, I'm the muscles. So keep your lab stuff to yourself, okay?"

She stuck out her tongue playfully.

He sighed and bit his lip and shook his head. "Have I told you lately how much I miss your tongue ring?" he asked.

"I haven't had it in five years."

"Doesn't mean I still don't miss it," he said. "That thing was like every dirty dream come true."

She frowned. "The children, Donnie. Seriously."

"Kellan's fast asleep. And do Amanda and Kallison even look like they're listening to us? They've got your music blaring into their brains. Hope you're not letting them listen to Gangsta rap."

"It's old Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson, actually," she said with a wink.

"Oh yeah…that's it. Get them hooked on Satan worshipping at a young age."

She reached under his jacket and yanked playfully on his belt buckle. "So you're good? About going to Mari and Sheldon's?"

"Do I have much of a choice?" he asked.

"Well," she said and proceeded to undo his belt.

"You're a bad girl," he told her with a grin. "Seriously. This isn't the A train on the way home at three in the morning. Now that was an adventure. I'll never forget that night as long as I live."

"That's what happens when you ply me with tequila all night," she said and did his belt back up. "But if you're a good boy tonight…."

"I'll be good," he vowed. "Very good. You plan on being good back?"

"It depends if you're okay with going to Mari and Sheldon's."

"You are damn good at blackmail and bribery. You know that?"

She smiled up at him and ran the tip of her tongue along her bottom lip.

"I'm good with going to Mari and Hawkes," he told her quickly. "Not just good. Excellent in fact."

She laughed and sat back in her seat. "You are so very easy to please," she declared.

"You know, I was thinking that when we go away next weekend we can…"


His words were cut off at the sound of a heated, intense argument between two young men taking place near the back doors of the subway car. Profanities and threats spewed out of their mouths as they shoved each other back and forth in the tight confines. Irritated passengers pushing them back when the two men bumped into them. Concerned and worried mothers trying their best to shelter their children from both the language, and the visible threat that the two combatants posed.

"Please do not get into it," Sam pleaded in a whisper to her husband, as he watched the young men with narrowed eyes. While they'd been waiting for the subway, those same two characters -obviously drunk judging by their slurred speech and stench you could smell from a mile away- had been warned by station security when their jostling began to intense it appeared as if one, or both, may tumble onto the tracks. They'd been told, in no uncertain words, that if they continued their behaviour, the cops would be called and they'd be both escorted off the premises and charged with public mischief.

Apparently, their behaviour that had been briefly halted, was now continued where it left off on that packed subway car.

"Donnie…" Sam tugged on the front of his jacket, trying to divert his attention from the assholes carrying on, and back onto his family.

"What, babe?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Please don't get involved," she replied. "Not with the girls and Amanda here. You'll get into something with those guys and the kids will get scared. They don't need to see that sort of thing."

"I'm not going to do anything," he assured her, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead.

"I know you," she said. "You always get involved when something goes down. Just please don't with the girls and Amanda here."

"Sammie, I already said I wouldn't do anything. Just relax, okay?"

She sighed and looked down at the still fast asleep Kellan and then at Amanda and Kallison, who although still listening to their music, had worry, and fright, etched on their tiny faces.

The arguing continued near the doors. Louder and angrier. Fellow passengers were starting to get involved. Telling the two men to shut up and watch their mouths around all the children. Which only caused the guys to swear and yell even louder. Frightened children began crying. Mothers, and fathers for that matter, became more and more nervous.

And Sam was one of those mothers. Not necessarily because her children and goddaughter were bearing witness to the stupidity and hearing the foul language, but because she knew full well that her husband wore his badge clipped to the waist of his jeans. It had become a force of habit during all his years on the job. Carry the shield wherever he went, even on his days off. Just in case anything ever happened -he witnessed an assault or an accident, had to render CPR or first aid- he liked to be prepared and able to take utter and complete charge of the scene. And the sight of that badge usually calmed people down, and put a stop to instances such as the one going on behind him. It wouldn't have been the first time that he'd had to step into something while he was with his wife. It had happened numerous times both during their dating and living together years and marriage. But they'd always been alone and never had children tagging along with them.

And those children were the reason why she wanted him to keep the badge where it was.

"Don…" she yanked at his jacket once again when his eyes, narrowed with concern, remained on the two jackasses a little too long. "Don…"

He looked down at her.

"Please," she said. "Don't do anything. Use the daddy and godfather part of your brain instead of the cop one. "

"I can't just sit by and let those two guys go at it, babe," he said. "What if they hurt someone?"

"I'd rather them not hurt you," she told them. "And I don't need you getting into some fight with your daughters and Amanda right here. So please…don't say anything or do anything. Don't even look over there anymore."

"I want to go home," Kallison whimpered, tears welling in her big blue eyes.

"We're on our way home," Flack assured her, giving her a calm, soft smile as he crouched down in front of her and Amanda. "Just listen to your music there and don't let those guys, bother you? Okay?"

"But I'm scared Uncle Donnie," Amanda whispered. "If daddy was here, he'd help you beat them up."

"No one is going to beat anyone up, okay sweet pea?" he touched Amanda's face softly and gave her a warm smile. "Those guys will get off soon. No one is going to get into a fight."

"They're bad people, daddy," Kallison said. "You're suppose to arrest bad people."

"I can't because I'm not a police officer right now, Kallie. I'm just daddy. So you and Amanda just listen to your music and don't worry about anything. Alright?"

Kallison nodded glumly and tried her best to concentrate on anything else besides the fighting a mere twenty feet away.

"Thank you," Sam said to her husband, as he stood back up.

"I'm not going to go and beat the crap out of someone when you and the kids are here," he told her.

"Wouldn't be the first time you put the beats on someone when I was around," she said.

"The guy grabbed your ass and asked you how much you cost," Flack smirked. "What was I going to do? Let him get a way with it?"

"I'd already kneed him in the you know where," she reminded him with a grin.

"I had to make sure he was down for the count," he reasoned. "Make sure he knew who he was messing with."

"You just have such a damsel in distress weakness," she giggled.

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her softly.

There was a sense of relief on the entire train when one of the drunk and disorderly men got off half an hour into the trip. Leaving his intoxicated companion to collapse into a seat behind Sam and the kids on the now half empty subway car. Flack sat on in a seat diagonally from them, keeping on eye on his kids and one on the drunken ass sitting behind his wife.

Sam looked behind her as she felt someone kick the back of the seats.

"Got a problem, bitch?" the young man slurred.

"Do you want one?" she countered.

He gave a bemused smirk and waved her off. "Go home and cook and clean like good women are suppose too," he told her. "Mind your business. Women should be seen and not heard."

"Funny, that's my opinion of most men," she said dryly and turned back around.

"Women are nothing but a bunch of useless bitches and hoes," the young man declared, and propped his feet up on the side of her seat.

Sam snorted and shoved them off.

"Smart ass bitch, huh?" he snorted and leaned forward, his drunken breath caressing her cheek. "How about I…."

"How about you nothing buddy," Flack said, as he got to his feet, crossed the short expanse of aisle, and pushed the guy back into his seat. "Just sit there and shut up."

"Who are you?" the young man asked. "Her bodyguard?"

"Her husband…and NYPD," Flack replied, lifting his jacket to show his badge. "So unless you want to find yourself cooling your heels in the drunk tank down in Central, I'd be a good boy and keep your mouth shut. Understand me?"

The kid held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, officer…sorry….I'll be good…."

Flack highly doubted it. He'd dealt with many a drunk asshole in his time on the force. Especially when he was a uniform. And if there was one thing he learned, it was that booze had a tendency to turn most people yappy, and nasty. And he didn't want, or need, his kids or Amanda to be witness to that. He stood beside Sam and motioned for her to pass him Kellan.

She gave a tiny whimper as she was handed over to her father. "Daddy…." she blinked in the bright light, her voice heavy with sleep as she curled her arms around his neck.

"It's okay, Kellan," he whispered to her, sitting back down in the seat he'd vacated and cuddling her tightly to him. "Just go to sleep baby."

"Are we home yet?" she asked.

"Not yet. Just close your eyes and take a nap, okay?"

She nodded and snuggled her head into his shoulder.

Sam waited until the train stopped to unload and pick up passengers before moving herself and Amanda and Kallison over to the seats behind her husband and snoozing daughter.

Several minutes of silence and peace passed by before Sam saw movement out of the corner of her eye, then smelled the booze as the same jack ass slipped into the seat behind her.

"Hey, officer," he slurred. "Officer…you think you'd can come to my place and get my cat out of a tree?" he asked, then cackled maniacally.

Sam rolled her eyes. "That's the FDNY moron," she said. "Now just shut up and leave us alone."

"I wasn't talking to you," he told her. "So you're the one that needs to shut up."

"Buddy, I am warning you right now," Flack shot the young man a stern glare over his shoulder. "One more word and someone is walking off this train with a busted face. And it won't be me."

The kid smirked. "So are these your kids?" he asked, waiting for Flack to turn around before not only asking the question, but run his fingers through Kallison's hair.

"Don't touch me!" she shrieked, and promptly burst into tears.

"Aww don't cry, sweetheart. You're a pretty little thing. A real pretty little thing. I wouldn't mind taking you and…"

All words ceased as Sam brought her elbow back into his face. Catching him square in the nose. Shattering it and causing him to bellow in pain and bring a hand up to attempt to staunch the flow of blood.

"Oh I'm sorry…" she gasped dramatically, laying a hand over her mouth as the young man fell off of his seat and onto the subway floor. "My elbow must have slipped."

To add insult to injury, every passenger on the train was clapping and cheering her on and congratulating her on being able to handle her own. Even Kallison and Amanda were smiling through their tears, obviously impressed with her.

"Nice one, babe," Flack commented, a huge smirk on her face. "Nice to see some of what you learned in the academy back there in Phoenix has stuck around for so long."

"Please…you've seen me take down bigger and better," she said. "Do we just leave him there writhing in pain?"

"We'll wait until the train stops, toss him out," Flack told her. "I'm seriously proud of you, babe."

She smiled and leaned over his seat to kiss his cheek.

"Never mess with a mommy," she declared.


His wife was in the kitchen of the Greenwich Village brownstone when Hawkes arrived home from the drive to and from Queens to drop Jasmine and Elijah off at the Flack house. He'd stayed for a few minutes, chatting in the front foyer with Samantha about her upcoming first day of work with Stella in New Jersey. He and Sam had always gotten along well. Since the first day she'd started at the lab and she'd asked him why in the hell a doctor would want to be a crime scene investigator. Hawkes had found himself easily opening up to that pretty young woman fresh from the Phoenix crime lab. He'd worked with Danny, both alongside of him, and as the ME, for years and it taken him a long time to ever tell the other man about the circumstances that saw him leaving the hospital in favour of the coroner's office. Samantha Ross was different. She had a warm, personable way about her. She slipped into your life quietly and unassumingly, and before long, you were spilling long concealed secrets and fears. Hawke s had found that they had a lot in common and shared similar interests. The conversations always flowed easily between them and they worked side by side solving cases as if they'd known each for years. Their opposites styles of dealing with perps and handling interrogations and their perceptions of the evidence making them a potent combination. He had considered, on numerous occasions, asking her out. But she had made it perfectly clear, in a conversation he'd over heard between Samantha and Danny, that she hadn't come to New York looking for a relationship, and had no intentions on falling into one.

Hawkes had kept his interest in her to himself after that. They'd become close, tight knit friends and it was a relationship that meant a hell of a lot to him. But when she'd hooked up with Flack a year into her new life in New York City, Hawkes had been both disappointed and somewhat surprised.

Samantha Ross and Don Flack Jr were total opposites. She was a tiny mouse of a thing -although she was more than capable of taking care of herself- and he was tall and strong and powerful looking. She was an ivy league graduate and he had a simple grade twelve. The only thing the two of them had in common were their excessively stubborn personalities and their sarcastic, dry wit.

Flack was a decent guy and a hell of a cop. Hawkes admired the other man for his determination and loyalty to not only the job, but his friends and his family. Flack was the guy you wanted covering your ass if you went in the door on a raid. Because despite conflicting opinions and personalities, Flack always had your back. No matter what. Hawkes trusted him with his life and the lives of his family.

But outside of work, things just didn't click between them. They were just too different. Their wives had been struggling for years to bring the two men closure, to make them friends. To no avail. Hawkes was as intimidated by the other man's size and strong, almost arrogant personality, as Flack was of Hawkes' intellect. And neither men knew what the other was thinking.

Hawkes had turned down the invitation offered by Flack to take off his coat and shoes for a while. To have a beer. Flack had sounded sincere, but had looked more then a little uncomfortable. As if his wife had put him up to asking.

"Jasmine and Elijah got settled okay at Sam's place?" Mari, in a simple ruby red sweater dress, asked her husband, as she stood at the kitchen counter, working intently on trays of Cuban, Latin and North American food she was planning on serving their guests.

"They made themselves right at home," Hawkes replied, and standing behind her, place a tender kiss to the nape of her neck as she circled her waist from behind.

"I'm glad that Sam and Don agreed to come," Mari enthused. "We haven't seen them in a while. Couple wise."

Hawkes nodded and peeked her cheek and moved to the fridge. Opening it, he took out a bottle of Stella Artois and twisted off the cap.

"Don't look too excited," Mari commented.

"About?" he asked, leaning against the counter across from him and taking a sip of his beer.

"Sam and Flack coming over."

"I don't have a problem with Samantha," Hawkes said.

Mari shot him a look over her shoulder.

"Or with Flack," he added quickly.

His wife sighed and went back to her food preparation. "Would it kill you to actually like the guy?" she asked.

"I like Flack," Hawkes told her. "He's a great guy. We just don't have anything in common. All he ever wants to talk about when we get together is hockey.'

"Well that's what he likes," Mari reasoned. "And I don't see you taking it upon yourself to change the conversation. He has a lot more interests then that. You just don't give him the chance to talk about them. He's not a stupid man, Sheldon."

"I never said he was. I just said we don't have a lot in common. I have no problem with Flack. I just find it hard to get friendly with him. Especially when he gets all those sarcastic comments rolling."

"That's a defensive mechanism," she said. "He turns that part of him on when he's trying to prevent himself from being hurt."

Hawkes laughed at that. "I doubt he's worried about something like that. Flack isn't the type to worry about what people think, or say, about him."

"You just might be surprised to find out how untrue that really is," Mari told her husband.

"I still find it hard to believe sometimes that those two are even together," Hawkes commented.

"Sam and Don?"

Hawkes nodded.

"Why?"

"Because they're just so different. She's this beautiful, compassionate yet feisty Ivy league educated woman and he's just…well…he's just Flack.'

Mari snorted. "I'll have you know, that Don Flack is an exceptionally good looking man."

Hawkes frowned.

"And that Sam and him are not that much different from each other. And even if they were, who cares? They met and they fell in love. Plain and simple. There's obviously a lot about him that she's attracted to and that she is. She adores him. To death. And he loves her to eternity."

"If he did, he wouldn't have cheated on her," Hawkes commented.

"That was months ago," Mari told him.

"It still happened. You love someone that much, you don't hurt them like that."

"We have not idea what was going on in their house and in their relationship at that point in time," Mari argued. "And it was none of our business. They've always handled their problems maturely and quietly. The important thing is that things got worked out and they're still together. And they have two beautiful little girls. They're just little dolls. You can't deny that, Sheldon."

"I'm just making observations, Mari," her husband said. "Things I see and hear. Just commenting on them. You can't tell me you don't find them an odd couple."

"I do," she admitted. "But they love one another. And a lot of people probably find us an odd couple. You were this child prodigy who graduated college at eighteen and was a board certified surgeon at twenty-four. And here you are, married to someone with a nursing degree who was married and had a baby at a young age and divorced not long after. I am sure a lot of people found it strange when you hooked up with a half Puerto Rican, half African American single mother."

"It didn't matter to me what people thought," Hawkes told her. "I love you."

"And Sam loves Don and he loves her. They're not the only couple in the world that are complete opposites. We just have to look in our own house to see that."

Hawkes grinned. "You just have this way of subtly shooting me down," he said.

"I just think you're too hard on Don," Mari told him.

"That's because you have a crush on him," Hawkes said.

His wife rolled her eyes. "Let's not get into that."

"It's not like it's a secret, Mari. Everyone knows. He's the one that got away."

"No…he's the one that never was," she corrected him. "There was never a me and Don. And there was never going to be. He didn't see me in that way."

Hawkes sipped his beer. "Does that bother you?" he asked.

"Not in the slightest," Mari replied. "But what does bother me is that it bothers you that Samantha never saw you that way."

Hawkes blinked.

"You're always talking about how beautiful she is. How smart she is. How she deserves so much better," Mari huffed.

"I do not…"

"You do!" she argued. "All the time. I know it burns your ass that she's with Don. You can't stand it. But I wonder if it's because you honestly don't like them together, or of it's because you wish it was you that was with her."

"I've never been interested in Samantha in that way," Hawkes argued.

Mari snorted and turned to face him, arms crossed over her chest as she stared at him pointedly.

"Maybe at one point in time I was interested in her," Hawkes admitted. "But not now. And there hasn't been an interest in a long time."

"You just called her beautiful!"

"I find a lot of women beautiful, Mari. Just like you find a lot of men attractive. It doesn't mean that I'm interested in any of them."

His wife sighed heavily and turned her back on him. "Let's just forget about it, okay?"

"No, I won't just forget about it," Hawkes said, and setting his bottle of beer down behind him, walked to his wife and laid his hands on her slender shoulders. "I love you, Mari. To the ends of the world and back again. You know that. We have two beautiful children together."

"One, " she corrected him.

"Two," he insisted. "Jasmine is my daughter. I raised her and love her as my own. And you gave me an amazing son who is the light of my life. You and our children are my entire existence. And for you to stand here and accuse me of having feelings for your best friend…"

"Well do you?" she asked.

"No. I don't. Samantha is a friend and a colleague. Or she was a colleague, I should say. I respect her and admire her. Simple as that. I love you and only you. You're my everything, Mari. You know that?'

She smiled and blinked back tears. "I'm sorry, Sheldon," she whispered. "I'm just so on edge lately. With Sam being fired from the lab and her and Don and the girls moving to New Jersey…"

"It's a shock," Hawkes said. "A big shock. But it's a bigger one for them, I can guarantee that. And they need our support, Mari. It's hard on them."

"I know," she sighed. "It just feels like this huge, important part of my life is coming to an end. And it's out of control and I can't stop it."

"You can't stop it," he told her. "They're doing this. Whether we like it or not. And we need to help them cope with it. You don't think leaving is going to be hard on them?"

"I know it will be."

"They're doing what's best for them, and their girls," Hawkes said, kissing her cheek and wrapping his arms around her slender body. "It's their lives. All we can do is sit back and watch things go down."

Mari nodded sadly. It was hard. Watching someone slip away from you. Someone that had meant so much in your life. That you had shared so much with. Letting go was hard, but not as hard as moving on.


Flack glanced up, pausing in dressing, as the bedroom door clicked open and his wife came wandering in. He could hear the girls and Amanda laughing and talking excitedly with Jasmine and Elijah in the basement. The dog barking out in the backyard as he frolicked in the snow. It was a twenty minutes after seven and Mari and Hawkes' party was scheduled to start at eight. Flack wondered how things were going to go if Mac was there. While he knew it wasn't Mac's fault that Sam had been fired, he was slightly pissed that Mac hadn't had a little more compassion in the way he had handled things. He'd dropped the news on her as if it was nothing more then telling her she couldn't have a requested day off.

But then again, Mac wasn't known for his empathy or his tact.

"You look hot," he told Sam, as she closed the door behind her. She had gotten dressed while he was still in the shower.

And she looked insanely attractive in an off the shoulder emerald green top that made her golden brown eyes pop and showed off her willowy figure and a sleek black skirt that skimmed the top of her knees. Black leotards and black leather boots that reached mid calf completed the look.

"You're prejudiced," she said, but there was a smile on her face as she took a seat on the edge of their bed. "I need to escape. All those kids in one place is driving me insane."

"It's a hell of a lot of yelling and freaking out," Flack agreed. "What's up with Kellan and Kallison? Too much ice cream?"

"Too much something apparently. They're bouncing off the walls down there. Did you check the messages when you got home?"

Flack nodded as he slipped into a pair of khaki coloured cargo style pants and zipped them up and buttoned them.

"Was there a message from Danny and Lindsay?"

"They had left one to tell us that they'd arrived safely and to leave us the number they could be contacted at. Why? You were worried?"

"A little," she admitted. "I know what kind of maniac driver Danny is. And with all that snow out there…"

"Well they're fine."

"I've already bathed the girls and put them in their pyjamas," Sam told him, watching as he pulled on a navy blue Tommy Hilfiger sweater with white, light blue and red stripes that ran horizontally around the torso. "But I told them they could stay up until midnight."

Flack arched an eyebrow.

"They wanted to watch the ball drop," Sam explained. "I said they could but had to go to bed and be asleep by the time we got home."

"Five bucks says they don't get past ten o'clock," Flack said.

"Make it twenty," Sam told him. "Don't be so cheap."

"I think I need to start giving you a bigger allowance," he teased.

"You look awful handsome tonight," Sam said. "Gotta look hot for your girlfriend, huh?"

"Naw…gotta look out for my wife. And so I don't look like a chump standing beside her. You're a hard thing to compete with, babe."

She grinned.

He leaned down and kissed her softly.

"You just always have the right thing to say," Sam said, as she stood up and smoothed her skirt down.

"Eight years of practice with you," Flack told her, closing the door as he followed her out the room. "It has been one hell of a learning experience being with you."

"Please. You'd die without me, Don. Or live the rest of your life alone and miserable. Or you'd…"

He grabbed a hold of her by the hips and pinned her up against the wall and covered her lips with his in a long, sizzling kiss. One hand sliding from her hip and over her ass, the other drifting up her body, grazing over her breasts and along her neck before his fingers tangled in her hair.

"Damn…" she said, when the need for air broke them apart. "What was that for?" she asked, as he pecked her forehead before pulling away from her and heading for the landing

"Just giving you a little preview," he told her, as he journeyed down the stairs. "Once that clock strikes midnight, babe…"

She blew her bangs off of her forehead and used her hand to fan herself off. Taking a couple of minutes to compose herself before following after her.

Ready to begin the New Year.

And afterwards, a new beginning.


Thanks to everyone that is reading and reviewing! I appreciate each and every one of you! Even all the lurkers! And I know there's lots of you. So please, please, please R and R folks! I appreciate it!

Special thanks to:

Laurzz

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TwinkeyRocks

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