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Kate walked into her apartment to find Cynthia soothing a crying Jamie in the living room. She hurriedly left her bag and shoes at the front door and rushed over to her daughter in her nanny's arms.

"What happened?" She asked worried, normally Jamie was already in bed, fast asleep when Kate came home late.

"Bad dream," Cynthia mouthed and handed the sobbing girl over to her mother, who immediately pulled her daughter close.

"Hey, Baby Bird," Kate mumbled, letting her hand run soothing circles on the girl's back. "It's okay, mommy's here."

"Mommy," Jamie cried, burying herself even closer to her mother's chest, her small hands fisting into Kate's shirt while holding on for dear life.

Kate waved quickly at Cynthia who left quietly so Kate could deal with her sobbing daughter. Sitting down on the couch, Kate pulling her baby girl close to her once more, knowing there was not much else she could do right now other than to hold her.

"Shhh, it was just a bad dream, Sweetie, just a bad dream," she rocked them both from side to side, placing soft kisses into Jamie's curls. "Do you want to tell mommy what happened?" Kate asked, hoping that talking would help Jamie to focus on something else, stop her from spiralling further down that rabbit whole and eventually calm her down.

"Bad man," she heard her daughter get out between sobs. "Hurting mommy."

"Oh no Honey, mommy is alright. See," she sat Jamie back on her lap so she could have a closer look at her mom. "Mommy's alright."

Jamie's small hands reached up, clumsily cupping her mom's face and leaning in close to give her mom a kiss, "Love you, mommy," she got out between stuttering breaths but finally calming down.

Kate's heart melted, giving her daughter another kiss, she smiled, "I love you too, Baby Bird. Now let's get you to bed, okay?"

Standing up, Kate placed Jamie on her hip, giving her another smile, relieved to see her daughter was smiling back. "Do you want to sleep in mommy's bed tonight, Sweetie?"

Jamie nodded eagerly and leant her head against her mother's while being carried to Kate's bedroom. Tucking her in, Kate made sure Jamie was comfortable before she left her alone to use the bathroom and get ready for bed herself.

It was not the first time Jamie had dreamed of bad men coming for her or her mother and Kate was worried. The dreams had started a couple of months ago, when Kate had come home slightly banged up after a suspect chase gone wrong. She had tried to reassure her daughter, tried to explain the black eye and bruises in a way Jamie would understand but not be terrified by. Obviously that hadn't worked out all too well. She needed to talk to Jamie again, try to take her fears away somehow. Only she had no idea how to do that.

Quietly settling down in bed next to her now fast asleep daughter Kate watched the steady rise and fall of Jamie's chest amazed yet again how much she loved her baby girl. She truly was the best thing that ever happened to her, had been her lifeline when she had almost drowned and Jamie's blue sparkling eyes had been all to keep her afloat, those blue eyes that were fully his. Kate's lips tugged up in a smile, remembering how his blue eyes had shimmered with love when she had handed him the picture of Jamie. That look in his eyes, the look of unwavering and unconditional love had opened up a place in heart. He would love Jamie. Love her with all his heart, there had suddenly been no doubt about that anymore.

Rick had walked home in no hurry, Alexis was spending another night at her friend's place and he was now sitting alone on his living room, a glass of wine on the coffee table in front of him, while he couldn't take his eyes from Jamie's picture. Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle back at him as she laughed at something off camera. She was precious, his daughter. Beautiful and gorgeous and his heart swelled with more and more love with every passing minute. He couldn't wait to see her.

He heard the front door open and turned to see a certain redhead walk in, "Mother, what are you doing here?"

She ignored his question, leaving her bag in the middle of the living room to hurry to his side, "How did it go?" She asked, her blue eyes seeking the ones of her son who beamed back at her, with sparkling, happy eyes.

"I'll see her tomorrow at the playground in Central Park." He breathed out relieved and happy.

"Richard!" Martha gaped, her right hand covering her mouth. "That's wonderful."

His smile even widened as he wordlessly handed her the picture Kate had given him earlier.

For a long minute Martha just stared at the little girl, her right hand now covering her heart as she lifted tear filled eyes to her son, "She's gorgeous."

And then her arms where around him, pulling him into a fierce hug as she whispered into his ear, "You're right, she has your eyes."

He pulled back, cupping his mother's face, "Are you getting soft in your old days?" He asked teasingly, seeing the tears shimmering in her eyes.

"Don't you dare call me old," she scolded, slapping him playfully on the shoulder. "And now tell me. I want to know everything?"

Rick told his mother everything in vivid details, making it more than obvious he couldn't wait for the next day to arrive and Martha couldn't help the adoring smile on her face while watching her son.

"So you're okay with taking it slow?" She asked when he had finally finished, knowing her son well enough, to know that this condition would be hard for him to meet. Her son never took anything slow.

He thought about the question for a moment before answering it, "Honestly, at first I didn't like it. You know me," he shrugged with a slight grin. "But I thought about it and Kate has a point, neither of us wants Jamie to get hurt in the process of figuring things out and I know it will take time. Kate and I need to find a rhythm, an agreement how we want to do this from now on. And adding more people into the equation right now would only complicate things. So yes, to answer your question for now I'm okay with taking it slow."

He took a deep breath, "And that's why I don't want to tell Alexis about Jamie right now."

Martha looked at him, "Why?"

Rick sighed, "The other night she told me about Daphne's dad who's getting married again and that Daphne is getting a new baby sister or brother."

His mother looked at him, "So?"

Rick sighed, "Alexis told me she wants siblings."

Martha choked on her red wine, coughing until she finally was able to speak again, "She did what?"

"She asked me if I would get married again and that if so she would be okay with getting a brother or a sister,"

"Your daughter sure is something," Martha chuckled. "What did you tell her?"

"That I can't promise her things like this and that I don't know if I'll ever get married again. But if I tell her about Jamie right now, she will want to meet her and I would have to tell her she needs to wait. I'd rather have things settle down first, so I can be sure Alexis won't get attached only to find it's getting complicated. It's not only Jamie's well being I need to consider."

Martha grinned, "You're growing up Kiddo. Who would have thought?"

"Yeah, I do have my moments," he grinned. "Kate and I just need to be clear about some things first and then I can tell her."

"It will be different than with Alexis though, you know?" His mother nodded. "You're used to be the only one responsible. Making all the calls, but with Jamie it will be different, you have to compromise with Kate and we both know that's not one of your strongest character trait either."

"It's not," he admitted. "But I get what you mean. We're both her parents, together."

"Yes and as much as you're used to decide everything on your own when it comes to Alexis, Kate is used to do the same for Jamie, so you'll both have to get used to this new situation." Martha concluded, once again the voice of wisdom.

He smiled warmly at her, grateful his mother was here to support him. No matter how flightly she sometimes seemed to be, he could always count on her when it mattered. "Thank you mother," he smiled warmly at her, "What would I do without you?"

"Dig yourself a deeper hole." She replied dryly.

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