'You nervous?'

'What makes you think I'm nervous?'

'Because you won't stop cracking your knuckles since we left the station.'

Esposito rolled his eyes as he walked towards the apartment building containing the crime scene with Beckett. 'I'm meeting Momo for the first time. She raised Meredeth after her mother died, and she's a retired litigator. You're damn right I'm nervous.'

Having his superior officer needling him was the last thing he needed at the moment, between the two-for-one murder they'd been called to barely fifteen minutes after they were on the roll and sifting through paper work needed for the upcoming Bodega stalker court date. Because he'd been so spoiled with good karma over the Christmas-New Year's holidays, Fate decided to dump that little treat into his lap into the same day of the week that Meredeth's grandmother was coming to visit for a week.

'Remind me again, why does Meredeth call her grandmother Momo?' Beckett badged the doorman, stepped onto the elevator for the eighth floor.

'The Danish word for maternal grandmother is mormor so she shortens to Momo, like how Lex calls Martha 'Grams'.'

'Ah. You didn't want to take the day?'

'Work gives me something to keep me occupied so I don't lose my mind.'

They'd just stepped off the elevator when he heard his phone chirp Meredeth's monophonic 'Good Vibrations' ring-tone. He fished his cell from his pocket, saw it was a call. 'Hey, babe, don't have much time, I'm on my way to a scene.'

'Just want to let you know, Momo's gotten us reservations at the DeHeere Towers Grill on Broadway between Forty-Two and Forty-Three, seven thirty tonight.'

'Sounds great. I'll see you then.'

'Okay. Love you.'

'Love you too, Mere.' He hung up, caught the pursed-lipped look on Beckett's face; he'd known her long enough to know she was trying to hide a smile. 'What?'

'You guys are using the big L-word now? Took you long enough.' She turned into apartment 817, leaving Esposito to stew in his mild embarrassment. 'Officer, what do we have?'

He was late, which made him want to kick every possible ass in his way. The case they'd picked up that morning had given him a pots-and-pans headache, as both victims - one an up-and-coming theatre actress, the other her agent - had many people who wanted to see them strung up on the nearest lamp-post. Going through their agendas and contacts for information had been hellacious; it made him thankful he'd never been interested in dating an actress, not when they came with so much drama. Every answer to a simple question was a freakin' monologue like they were waiting for the director to yell 'Cut!'. And to boot, he'd had the rumour confirmed that the D.A.'s office would be subpoenaing his girlfriend as a witness; she'd be served with papers the following day.

He marched into the DeHeere Towers Grill well past eight o'clock, paused to straighten his tie and brush the snowflakes from his crew-cut in the polished glass of the lounge entrance. He hadn't had time to shave in the precinct locker room but he did splash on a little fresh aftershave and hoped it covered the worst of the winter-sweat and cop-shop smell.

Strolling up to the maitre d's podium, he greeted the well-dressed woman with a curt nod. 'Hi, I'm meeting my party here. Constance Dakkars and Meredeth Coleman.'

'Of course, right this way sir. I believe the table has already begun with the amuse-bouche course.'

He followed her, scanning the room until he saw his eyes land on his girlfriend and for a moment he just watched her. She'd swept her hair back from her face and could see the winking of the earrings he'd given her at Christmas. Her deep purple shirt made her rosy skin look even more fresh and ripe, and he could hear her rich laugh across the room. Beside her was a spry, wire-thin woman in her early-seventies. She had a cascade of silver-and-gold waves raining to her shoulders, vibrant blue eyes, and the same crinkle to her nose Meredeth got when she made her 'aw so cute' face.

The hostess let him pass, and he felt a little of his nerves subside when he saw Meredeth catch him approaching and her smile turned that shade softer for him. 'Hello, Detective.'

'I'm so sorry I'm late.' He leaned in to give her a kiss as was their habit, then straightened and went to the other side of the table and held out his hand. 'It's great to meet you, Mrs. Dakkars.'

'Javier, please.' Her voice was clear as spring water, with a musical Scandinavian lilt. 'What did I say back at Christmas?'

'Call you Constance, right. Slipped my mind.'

'It's alright, I'm just teasing you. Care for a drink?'

'Yeah.' Esposito took Meredeth's hand in his, squeezed it as Constance signaled the waiter. 'I got word from the DA's office. You are going to be subpoenaed for the Bodega stalker case.'

Meredeth blew out a breath, more of annoyance than anything else. 'Well, you figured as much and so did I. When?'

'Tomorrow. Come in to the precinct, Beckett and I will go over it with you, what you need to do before you talk to the ADA's office.'

'Okay. Now that we have business out of the way, can I tell you the super happy news?' Meredeth looked back to her grandmother as well. 'I wanted to wait until he got here, so don't box my ears for keeping secrets.'

'Rock my world, pige.'

'My agent, Robina, called me in for a meeting this morning, before I met you at LaGuardia, Momo. CBS has agreed to the option for the first Lady Hawk book, and they're going to make it a mini-series!'

Both Esposito and Constance let out happy cries, gave her kisses as the waiter returned with their drinks - a stiff martini for Constance, red wine for Meredeth and a spiced rum on the rocks with a twist for Esposito. They placed their orders for their meals, then toasted Meredeth's news. Esposito could tell from the little wink she gave him they'd celebrate good and proper when they turned in for the night. 'That's fantastic Mere.'

'So does this mean you'll have to be in California for production?'

'Nope, they've contracted a Manhattan based company, Elevation, for animation so it'll be produced right here in New York.' Meredeth patted his hand. 'Which brings me to part two, I have to go to Japan at the end of July, after Comic-Con. The National Commission for Literature is having their month long celebration, and they want me to do a nine-city to promote my graphic novel series.''

'So you'll be gone for a month?' Constance asked, sipping her martini. However much Meredeth was a grown woman, she was still her little pige and she would always worry.

'Three weeks. Comic-Con is the nineteenth to the the twenty-second, and I have to be in Sapporo for the twenty-sixth.' Meredeth turned baleful eyes to Esposito who smiled warmly at her. 'I'm going to miss you.'

'Babe, you put up with me and my crazy hours being a cop. I'd be a real asshole if I didn't meet you in the middle when you have to be away for work too.'

'What a guy.' Meredeth rose from her chair, grabbed her purse. 'If you'll excuse me, I have to hit the ladies' before there's a between-meal rush of anorexic models hogging the stalls.'

Esposito watched her move through the crowd of tables, pouted a little at this news she'd given him. Three weeks to be away from his Meredeth sucked, but he understood that she had to go where people were reading her books. He thought of planning his vacation time so that they'd have quality one-on-one time before she had to leave, caught Constance surveying him over the rim of her glass.

'I know that look,' she told him. 'I saw it enough on my husband's face when I told him I had big cases coming up.'

'How did you balance it?'

'Little things. Making him a thermos of his favourite soup for lunch, a note on the dresser when I had to leave before he was even awake. And I always ended every phone conversation with telling him how much I loved him. He was a good man, flaws and all.'

'Well, no-one's perfect.'

Going with the opening he'd inadvertantly given her, Constance ran with it. 'Your parents what do they do?'

'My dad's a retired mechanical engineer from Statler Electric and my mother owns her own bakery in Spanish Harlem.'

'Siblings?'

'One sister, three years younger, works in accounting at the Waldorf-Astoria and she's married to a nurse in the USMC. He's only a few weeks back in Baghdad now.'

'I'll put him in my prayers. College?'

'No, ma'am, went from high school right into the police academy. Graduated top twenty-five of my class in ninety-five, and I've been a detective for the last eight.'

'So you're...' Constance did the mental math. 'Five years older than Meredeth?'

'Yes ma'am, I'll be thirty-seven on April twenty-fourth.'

'How many sexual partners?'

Esposito squirmed a little at her question. He'd already disclosed his magic number to Meredeth, and she to him; it was another thing altogether to be telling his girlfriend's grandmother. 'Meredeth is number eight.'

'So you've had your fun but you're not a whore. I like that, and I like you, so listen closely.' Constance leaned forward to emphasize her point. 'You hurt her and I will make you disappear. Believe me. I live in the heart of alligator country and the Mayor of New York's home number is number four on my speed dial. Clear?'

'Crystal.'

'Good. Now that I've finished scaring you, perhaps you can tell me your version of the story of when your friends visited and watched Meredeth on the television interviews?'

By the time they arrived back at the Chelsea townhouse for a nightcap, Esposito felt marginally more relieved. Constance had scared the piss out of him with her 'break her heart, I'll break your balls' speech but he also knew he'd gotten off easy with so small a speech. His own father had nearly made military nurse Cameron cry when they'd first met. But one look at Meredeth's face when she'd seen Constance and himself chatting and he knew he'd have endured far worse to make her smile like that again in a heartbeat.

Now back at the townhouse, she had taken her shoes off and was sitting on the floor scratching Arturo's belly like he was a meowing kitten instead of a galumphing monster of a dog.

'Such a good boy, Artie,' she crooned to him as his tail thumped against the floor in the living room. 'You ready for bed?'

The mixed-breed ears pricked up at the word and he raced for the stairs, looking back to see if Constance was coming. 'Well, I'm going to turn in, it's been a long day. And if you're going to celebrate Meredeth's success in a naked way, just please remember I am sharing a wall with the master bedroom.'

Esposito swallowed tightly as Constance went upstairs; when he was certain she was out of range he hissed at Meredeth, 'That's just creepy, your grandmother making comments like that about your private life.'

'Why? She was a hippie back in the sixties, totally engaged in the free-love lifestyle for a little while after college until she found her calling in the legal system.'

'Yeah, but...it's still weird.'

'You think your mother believes you're some snow-white virgin prince?' When he turned chalk white, then beat red, Meredeth let out a snorting giggle. 'Come on, babe, she probably was the one who put together the toy box for Lili's bachelorette party.'

'Oh, you're going to pay for that one.' Without another thought, he dug his fingers into her sides, making her shriek in eardrum shattering squeals. She wriggled like an eel as she fought to get breath in her lungs, sliding ass-first to the floor in front of the fireplace with his body pinning her to the ground. 'You give?'

'I-I-I-I-give!' she wheezed out; the first lungful of air burned like a shot of vodka but at least she could breathe again. 'That's so mean.'

'Me, mean? You're the one who put pictures of...oh, Jesus, I can't even say it. Nope, not going there.'

'And neither am I. But speaking of the toy box...' Meredeth kissed him seductively, whispered in his ear. 'Why don't we give that edible massage oil a try?'

Esposito only looked at her. 'I'll race you to the bedroom.'

R&R&Enjoy!