Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop
Kate called up their favorite pizza shop, ordering their usual medium pepperoni, being told it would be there in ten minutes. Then, with the last piece of apple in her mouth, Kate went into her bedroom to change. What she wanted to do was fall into bed for a nap before the pizza showed up followed by the whirlwind of Lanie. The woman would want to chat after Al went to bed and Kate didn't really mind that part of it. She liked her friendship with the medical examiner who had been there for her every step of the way over the past five years. However, Kate figured it was probably not a good idea that she was getting so little sleep with this case; when she was tired, she never had the ability to fight back the nightmares that sometimes chased her.
She stripped out of her light grey trousers and unbuttoned the pale pink button-up, searching the messed-up comforter and sheets for her pajamas. She really needed to get on that 'teach by example' thing with the whole idea of making your bed in the morning. Sometimes she just didn't have the time to fold all of her sheets into order when she knew the boys were waiting for her at a scene or she was running late to get Al to school. Kate located her too-big grey-green shirt with the neckline that hung off her shoulder, slipping it on before continuing the search for the leggings.
"Mom! Door!"
Unable to find the holey black leggings but swearing that she would locate them before she went to bed, Kate pulled on the sweatpants that hung over the closet door as she went to get her wallet from her purse. Al knew she shouldn't answer the door; she was too short to see through the peephole and Kate had pounded in the dangers of opening the door when you didn't know who was on the other side.
Kate herself checked to see who was waiting in the hall. A pimply boy was shifting from foot to foot, one hand in his pocket, the other holding up the box of pizza. She opened the door, handing the boy the money and taking the box back into the apartment with her.
"Come on, Al. Dinner." She placed the box on the table, going to take down plates before getting water from the filtered tap. If Al was going to be drinking juice while watching the movies tonight, the less sugar she got prior, the better.
The girl climbed into her seat, waiting until Kate brought over the bowls of salad, forks, and the drinks before violently stabbing her lettuce. Kate plated up pizza, setting it next to Al's salad for when she finished the mixed greens that Al had drowned in Italian dressing.
Kate waved her forkful of salad at Al. "What did you do at school today?"
"We did math," Al replied with a wrinkle of her nose. "I don't like math."
"Me neither. But math's important. You need to pay attention and make sure you know how to add and subtract."
Al pushed a strand of hair behind her ear with an exasperated sigh. "But I want to draw, not do icky math problems." She still stuck the last piece of lettuce into her mouth, chewing on it with a pout on her face.
"Sometimes we have to do things we don't enjoy." Kate gave Al's plate of pizza a little push toward her as the girl moved her salad bowl away. "That's life."
"Really?" The girl ran her finger along the edge of the plate. "What don't you like to do?"
"Eat salad in order to have pizza," Kate whispered as if sharing the biggest secret in the world before biting into her own slice of pepperoni. "Now eat up before Lanie gets here and steals our food."
That had Al eating, though Kate suspected it was due more to the reminder that her friend would be coming over and spending the evening watching movies with her and eating popcorn and laughing at her bad jokes.
Fifteen minutes later as Al was changing into different pajamas, having decided that her first pair wouldn't cut it for the girl's night, there was a knock at the door. Kate unfolded herself from the couch and went to check who was outside. All she saw was a box of microwavable popcorn held up to the peephole.
Kate rolled her eyes as she opened the door to Lanie, who blew past her, shoving the popcorn into Kate's arms.
"Where's my little chica?" she called, unwrapping her scarf as she walked into the living room.
"Lanie!" answered Al's voice from her bedroom. The girl emerged, hopping on one foot as she pulled her sweatpants on, her shirt only on one arm. Her brown hair was escaping from her braid as Al ran down the hall to attach herself to Lanie's legs. "You bring popcorn?"
The medical examiner shook the girl off her legs enough to walk over to the couch and flop down. Al mirrored the movement, falling across Lanie's lap. "Duh. How else does one have a movie night? What do you think I am, a newbie at this?"
Kate placed the popcorn on the table, reaching over the couch back to tweak her daughter's nose. "Go finish getting ready for tonight. Lanie'll still be here when you really get your shirt on."
Al rolled off the couch and dashed back down the hall, using the doorframe to her room to swing in.
Lanie turned on the couch, resting her chin on the cushions and crossing her arms. "You doing okay?"
She didn't need to clarify; Kate knew what her friend was talking about. She shrugged. "Okay. We can talk after the movies. She doesn't need to hear all the gruesome details while we watch The Lion King."
"Lion King? Been a while since I've seen that," Lanie mused, untying her shoes and toeing them off under the coffee table.
Kate shrugged. "Either that or Beauty and the Beast. Last I checked, she still hadn't come to a definite decision. You bring juice so my daughter will be off-the-wall all night?"
Lanie held up a plastic bag. "Apple juice and some white grape and peach concoction that sounded decent. Not sure if Al is adventurous with stuff like that, so I figured apple was basic enough in case."
"Al will try anything at least once." She took the offered bag and brought it over to the fridge, storing the bottles in the crowded shelves. "Any results from the…" Kate shook her head. "Nevermind. After the movie night."
Her friend pushed up from the couch, walking into the kitchen to flip the end of Kate's hair. "Preserving innocence. We'll wait until she's asleep, but there's some good news."
"Tease," Kate muttered as she took a bag of popcorn out of the plastic wrapper and tossed it into the microwave. "Can't just drop news like that on me without being able to elaborate."
Al reappeared, fully dressed this time in grey sweatpants and a dark blue NYPD shirt that Kate had brought home for the girl as a birthday present. Her hair was a mess now, the majority of it completely free from the hair elastic. Strands curled wildly around her face and she pushed them back repeatedly as each time they sprang back against her cheeks and into her eyes.
"Movie time now?" she asked as she slid into the kitchen on fluffy purple socks.
Lanie nodded toward the TV. "What're we watching tonight, girlie?" She glanced at Kate who just nibbled her lower lip as she punched in the time for the popcorn. They'd talk later. For now, childhood movies would reign in the apartment. Lanie followed Al over to the couch where the girl held up the two DVD cases and began debating the merits of one over the other.
Kate caught the argument that Beauty and the Beast would be the best choice since there isn't a completely heart-wrenching death in that movie. Mufasa's death, after all, still manages to make Kate cry like she was Al's age. As the popcorn exploded in the microwave, Kate pulled out glasses from the cupboards and took out the juice that Lanie had brought over.
"Al, what do you want, apple juice or," she paused, reading the label on the exotic mixture Lanie had decided on, "white grape peach?"
Brown hair peeked over the top of the couch. "I'll try the peach one."
Kate poured it out, mouthing "I told you so" at Lanie who shrugged. "What do you want, Lanie?"
"I'll have what she's having," she said before Al tugged her arm to talk leading women. Nala got points off for being a lion while Belle was clearly ahead in the polls as a book lover. Lanie grinned at the latter point; this girl was definitely Kate Beckett's daughter to the bone.
The popcorn was done from the incessant beeping from the microwave. Kate took the bag out, ripped open the top and set it on the counter to cool off before she emptied it into the huge porcelain bowl. Balancing the three cups of juice, she set them down carefully on the coffee table, grabbing the elastic band from Al's hair just as it fell out, the hair accessory giving up on containing the curls.
"Pick one, Al, so we can get it started."
The girl waved Beauty and the Beast in the air. "I declare Belle the winner!" Al tried to hand the case to Kate who pointed at Lanie.
"Have Lanie put it in and get us to the main menu. I'll grab the popcorn."
Lanie was sitting cross-legged in front of the media system, popping the DVD from the plastic circle and waiting for the drive to open. Kate not only carried the popcorn bowl over after drizzling the kernels with more butter, but slipped her phone into the pocket of her sweatpants. She wasn't on-call tonight, but she wanted it near her in case Ryan or Esposito found something to break open this case.
With the menu navigated and the narrator introducing the prologue of the story, the three girls cuddled up on the couch, Al in the middle of the older two, the bowl of popcorn on her lap.
Movie nights didn't happen often. It was rare that Kate and Lanie's nights off lined up. Even rarer that Al had a day off from school thanks to a teacher development day. Tonight was a minor miracle and Kate was grateful for Lanie's insistence that they take the time to just hang out. This case was wearing her out fast and the ability to just sit with Al and see, hear, feel that her little girl was alive. She ran her fingertips along Al's neck, giggling as her daughter squirmed over toward Lanie in an attempt to escape the tickling.
"Mom!" Al turned sharp blue eyes on Kate, crossing her arms. "Stop. Watch the movie."
Lanie was barely stifling a burst of laughter as Kate just blinked, her mouth hanging open a little. By the time she had recollected her thoughts, Al had returned her attention to the television as Belle rode Philippe through the forest to the gates of the Beast's castle.
Goodness, she really was her daughter. No wonder she had Ryan and Esposito under her thumb.
By the time Beast and Belle were waltzing around the ballroom, Belle in that gorgeous golden dress that Al still wanted to wear as a Halloween costume this year, the girl was slumped against Lanie's side, fast asleep. Lanie had an arm around Al, holding onto the porcelain popcorn bowl so it didn't tumble out of the girl's lap and spill the unpopped kernels across the ground.
"Time to get her to a real bed?" Lanie asked, not moving her eyes from the scene on the TV. Kate sensed that Lanie was more enthralled with the movie than Al would be at her thousandth re-watch. The girl knew the story forwards, backwards, and sideways so she had fallen into unconsciousness pretty quickly.
Kate shifted, getting up off the couch without disturbing the sleeping child. "I'll get her. Grab the bowl."
After Lanie safely transferred the bowl to the coffee table, Kate scooped Al up. The girl's head plopped onto Kate's shoulder, her hands winding around her neck as Kate carried her daughter down the hall with the promise of returning to help clean up the living room.
As soon as Kate set Al down on her bed, the girl stirred. "Mom, I wanna say bye to Lanie."
"You can give her a call tomorrow afternoon and talk for a while, okay? Time for bed now."
Al's response was a sleepy "okay" before she rolled over and buried her face into her pillow. Kate pulled the sheets and comforter up to her shoulders, running a hand over her head, leaning down to press a kiss to Al's cheek.
"Love you, sweet girl," she whispered, turning off the lights and closing the door until it was only cracked open, the pale light from the night light filtering into the hallway.
Lanie had the empty bowl over in the sink, washing it out with a sponge, her hands covered in soapy water. The villagers were planning on hunting down the Beast on-screen as Kate gathered up the glasses from the coffee table and brought them over to the sink.
"You didn't need to clean," she said, finding the extra sponge to work on the juice glasses. She dunked the first under the stream of water, then added a dot of dishwashing soap before running the sponge around inside the glass.
"Nonsense." Lanie found a dish towel and started drying the bowl. "Besides, you did let me spend time with the most charming person I know. And I'm not speaking of you, Kate."
"You keep that up and you'll have to turn to Esposito for comfort as you'll both be denied visiting privileges," Kate replied, snatching the towel from her friend to dry the first glass. "Al wanted to say goodbye. I told her she could call you tomorrow afternoon to chat a little, if that works with you."
Lanie stretched up on her toes to place the bowl back in its place. "Empty threat, Miss Beckett. You know that girl loves me. She'd make your life miserable if she couldn't see me." She took up the second glass and began washing it. "And of course she can call me. I'll make time."
"Speaking of making time," Kate said, taking the last cup to wash. "Want to tell me the good news about this case?"
"Finish washing the cup and we'll talk on the couch, okay?"
They sat down in much the same positions as they had been minus the sleeping girl between them. Kate had her legs crossed, facing Lanie as her friend twisted her hands in her lap.
"I did the autopsy after you left. She was strangled; there was petechial hemorrhaging in her eyes and her hyoid bone was broken. He got up close and personal with her since there were finger-shaped bruises on her neck, some on her arms from where he maybe held her down." Lanie spoke slowly, relaying the information.
"None of that sounds like good news, Lanie," Kate said quietly.
"Good news is that he didn't sexually assault Molly." That had Kate blinking, her head tilting to the side. "No signs of any sexual trauma."
Kate pushed off the couch, pacing around the coffee table. Beast was dying, Belle was crying over his body, and Mrs. Potts and crew were watching from under the table with the enchanted rose. If only people in the real world could be brought back to life with the power of love.
"Why would that be?" she mused, turning back from the windows and crossing her arms. "What was special or different about Molly?"
"Could be that he was interrupted and had to skip a step," tossed out Lanie as she perched her feet on the coffee table.
"That might play. Ryan said he has something and that Esposito might as well. We'll see what they have from their canvass and try to figure out if our guy got his timeline wrong with Molly." Kate sat back on the couch with a sigh, tugging her hand through her hair, reminding herself to take a shower as soon as Lanie left. "So, how'd your date with what's-his-name go?"
The other woman rolled her eyes. "Ha. There won't be a second date, let's just go with that. Wouldn't stop talking about himself, about his life, about his job. I mean, I'm not asking for a microphone and my own personal stage, but a few questions about me would be nice."
"Lanie, we're destined to remain single. You, the girl that spends her days cutting up bodies and me, the homicide detective with far too much personal baggage."
"Least you have the adorable daughter," Lanie replied, examining her chipped toenails.
Kate gave her a shove on her shoulder, knocking her off-balance and having her feet fall to the ground. "Because we all know how she came about was the best possible way to have a child."
"Oh sweetie…"
She shook her head. "It's fine, Lanie. May not have been my best decision, but I'm glad she's here. We can remain the three single Musketeers, watching Disney and eating popcorn with strange peach grape juice."
"Sounds like a plan," Lanie said, getting up and finding her shoes that she had kicked off when she first arrived. "I hope you find this bastard, Kate. I can't help but think of Al whenever we walk into one of those scenes."
Kate got up as well, leaning her hip against the couch as Lanie swung her coat on. "She's spending tomorrow with my dad. He and Sadie will keep an eye on her while we get this psycho."
They hugged, Kate squeezing Lanie a little tighter than usual. "Thanks for coming over, Lanie. I know Al loves these nights."
"I like hanging with her, too. You're not such bad company either." Kate punched her friend again with a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, I'm sure."
Kate turned off the DVD as the now-human Beast and Belle waltzed during the end scene. As she walked past Al's room, she stuck her head into the door to make sure the girl was out cold. The breathing bundle of blankets told her Al was very much asleep, so Kate checked that the windows were locked and the curtains closed before she closed the door and went to take a shower before going to bed herself. Nights like this, she wanted Al to come curl up in Kate's big bed just to know the girl was safe. Completely overprotective, she told herself as she tried to dry her hair with the towel enough that it wouldn't soak her pillowcase, but the urge didn't go away even as she slipped under the covers, her feet tangling with the missing pair of leggings that had managed to sneak to the very bottom of the bed.