Written for the het_bigbang on on Livejournal. Thanks to Karlamartinova for beta-reading.

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"Loretta! Tell me things!"

In the maternity ward, Loretta greeted with a bright smile the members of her team, Pride in front of them all; as soon as Loretta had called, they had tried to tie down any loose ends of their case, made sure that everything was all right and then they had been on their way back to New Orleans, wondering of what exactly was going on.

Now, it reassured them seeing the medical examiner so… happy and carefree: if she felt that way, then, then everything had to be all right.

It just… had to, Chris prayed with all his strength. Georgie had to be all right. And her baby, too. Because he knew that she already loved that baby with all of herself. She had since the first instant she had known she was carrying it; if something were to happen to her baby, Georgie- the smug, sarcastic, cynic and hard-assed cop with the pouty lips – would have been devastated.

He too, he knew, would have been lost forever. He cared too much for them, had decided that he would have been like a father for that child the moment he had heard the heartbeat of the small and innocent creature- if not before, when he had felt the tiny miracle moving into its mother's womb many months before that.

He had lost too much – too many- already in his life. Friends and coworkers to Katrina. Savannah to Baitfish. And all too often he feared that Cade, too, could be lost to him- he had thought he had lost him for real, once and for all, during those long five years he hadn't crossed paths with his older brother.

He couldn't lose them- neither of them.

"Baby's in the NICU. She is going to be in an incubator for a few days, but she didn't come too early and she isn't too underweight, so the prognosis is extremely good." She smiled, her eyes almost shining with tears of happiness and relief- she had helped a new life coming into the world, a nice change for her, and her friend and her baby were all right.

"She? Newman had a girl?" Meredith was squealing with glee, her soft curls moving like in a happy dance around her soft features.

"Looks like we're getting you boys outnumbered, Country Mouse!" Sonja joked, playfully elbowing Chris in the side.

Loretta chuckled and nodded. "Caitlin Ann Newman was born a little bit more than an hour ago. You can go and try to see her behind the glass if you want to- Georgie is still resting anyway. I'm not promising you anything, though, I'm not sure if you'll see the baby from outside…"

They made their way in the direction Loretta had indicated, but before he could take another step, Loretta stopped Chris, grabbing him for his shoulder. "Not you, Christopher. You need to have a serious discussion with a certain someone." She leaned her head in direction of the room at her left.

"I thought she was asleep?"

Loretta sighed and groaned at the same time. "Christopher, Georgina is currently under the influence of some heavy, pretty good stuff. Which means that she'll have to listen to you. And she'll also probably be a little bit more conciliatory than usual."

Chris chortled, and then, quietly, very, very, quietly, he entered in the dark bedroom; he stopped at the side of the bed, and sighed, looking in awe and filled with love at the sleepy woman right before him, clad in the ugliest cerulean hospital gown he had ever seen.

Told ya to stay home, or at least to bring everywhere your go-bag…

He suspired, and went to sit at her side, on the edge of the bed; he caressed her messy, sweaty hair, and laughed satisfied when she turned, and leaned her face in his touch.

"Ehy…." She breathed, sleepy, her voice broken by yawning.

"Ehy to you." He slid over the white bed sheets, so that they could be face to face, their noses almost touching; he crossed his hands over his abdomen, and crossed his ankles as well, like he was in his natural element and it was the most normal thing to do. "I've been told you've been great."

She grunted, her eyes still half-closed. "Apparently, someone pampered me when I was pregnant."

When she went to rest her head on his shoulder, he titled his head to the side, and chuckled as he saw what was peeking from the neckline of the robe- his St. Christopher medallion- and sighed with renewed hope.

He had been right. He had always been right.

"Chris? I didn't mean what I said the other day. I don't really think that you were in just for Cait…"

He just chuckled, knowingly; you silly, silly girl, I knew. He thought to himself, leaving a butterfly kiss on her forehead.

He took her left hand in his own, interlaced their fingers on his chest. "I meant it. I'm not going anywhere. I'm here- and I'm here to stay."

He paused, looked at her in the eyes; he opened his mouth to speak, but she stopped him, shaking her head lightly, biting her lips.

"I think…" She gulped. Paused. Took a big breath, and smiled. As bright as the spring morning sun. "I think I'm done running. I think I'm home."

"You staying?" He asked her. He should have already known it, should have seen what she wanted in her eyes, but hearing her saying it, it was like his whole world was finally being put together as it was supposed to be.

"There's something here… It's… I don't know. I just get why you all came here and never left."

"It's New Orleans. It never forgets- but it forgives."

She shook her head, chuckling. "No. It's not just that. Walls, buildings…. They don't make family, nor a home. A home can be anywhere there is love." She stared at his eyes, filled with love for her, and her beautiful little daughter- a child that she knew- she felt- soon would be his in name if not blood. "You are all I need, Chris. I should have realized it when I first met you… but I was so scared…"

"Are you sure this is what you want?" He asked, his voice a little unsure.

Georgie smiled, and thought back at what she had wanted her whole life, what she had missed- a loving family, a happy house, parents doting over their daughter; she had craved that her whole life, first after losing her mother, with her father unable to meet his children's needs, and later again when, him gone too, she and Ellie had entered foster care.

Then, she had seen – lived -it firsthand, back when The Major had taken her and her siblings in. She had tried to reproduce it, first with Noah and then with Don, but both times in the blink of an eye, everything had been gone, ruined, and she had promised herself that she would have never felt the same, ever again.

But Chris, how could she deny Chris what he truly wanted? He deserved that happiness he too hadn't seen in his own family; she could give it to him- that was the only thing he asked of her. She could do it for him… and take so much more in return.

"I'm positive."

He snickered. "Just watch, Miss Newman. One day I'll get to marry you..." He breathed on her mouth, seconds before joining their lips together.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Absolutely, King!" Chris stepped a little away from Georgie, grinning.

Pride chuckled satisfied, a "I knew I was right" expression printed on his face; he reached the bed, and patted Chris on the shoulder like a proud father would.

"Christopher, son, can you leave us alone?" Chris nodded, and left the bed; as he walked, he lazily scratched the back of his head, and, when he reached the door, he stopped to salute, snickering; Pride turned back to Georgia, hands in the pockets of his trousers.

"You know, there are things you trust when you live in Louisiana; the river will rise, and people will rise to the occasion, no matter what; the rain will never stop pouring, the drinks will never stop flowing and music will never stop playing- and no matter what Hell you may go through living here, you trust in God almighty, and in friends… and family."

She smiled and shook her head, her eyes still half-closed, the light burning her retinas. "Trying to talk me out of moving here, Pride?"

He denied with a small movement of his head; his expression screamed that he knew what he was talking about, and knew he was right. "New Orleans gets in your blood, that," He underlined, pointing his index at her. "Is what I meant. What I meant is, you are staying."

It was a statement- not a question.

She sighed, nodded. "I'm taking as much maternity leave as possible but… I don't know if I want for things to go back the way they used to. I don't know if I still want to go in the field- not if Chris and I… I think…" She paused. "I miss working forensic, Pride. I really do."

"We'll see what can be done. If not with us, I'm sure NOLA PD could do with one more forensic analyst. Not that Sebastian wouldn't like two extra hands in the lab…" She thanked him, her voice sweet and low, a little bit more than a whisper, her cheeks blushing a little.

"And speaking of Christopher; when I sold my house after the divorce, I gave Loretta something for the kids' college. I want to do the same for his baby. And we both know that the moment he learnt that you were expecting Cait, he decided he would be her papa."

"You and Christopher spoke?" She tensed, her hands gripping the rough fabric of the bedsheets like for dear life, her hold so strong her knuckles were turning white.

"No need to." Pride teased, smiling knowingly. "Although we did exchange a few words."

"So, our Georgie… everything is all right between the two of you?"

Chris shook his head, kept his mouth shout, faking ignorance as soon as Pride cornered him.

"I don't know what you are talking about, King." He smiled, a tiny bit smug and arrogant.

"Christopher, son, if there's anything you want to share with me…" Pride opened his arms up in invitation. "You know what we say. The more I know, the more I can help."

The younger agent tightened his lips in a straight line, he kept his mouth shout, wondering what he was supposed to say and what he couldn't.

And yet, he knew where Pride was going. And that, at least, he deserved an explanation of sort.

"That's not what you think."

"And, Christopher, what it may be that I think?" Chris knew that expression. Pride was playing good cop, trying to get his sympathy, to have Chris to lower his defenses.

"I don't sleep where I eat, King." He said cynically. He didn't want to tell Pride the truth, didn't want to have his mentor- his friend- pitying him for something he was losing, something that had never been his to begin with.

But then, Pride looked at him in the same way he used to do with Old Christopher, and something broke in him: he wasn't that man any longer, neither he could be.

"It's not mine, if that's what you think." He sighed.

Pride chuckled, patted him on the shoulder. "Blood and genes don't a dad make, son."

"I know King, trust me, I know." Chris took a big breath, lazily scratching the back of his head. "What I don't know is what she wants. I think…" Chris closed his eyes, took a big breath and readied himself for the incoming admission. "I love them both, King, but I have no rights- I can't ask her to stay, and if she leaves, I can't follow her around. And if she goes back to L.A…"

Pride smirked. "You know Christopher, your problem is that you don't get that sometimes actions don't talk louder than words. You've been taking care of her, taking care of her baby, but have you told Georgie any of this?" He titled his head to the side. "Give Georgie a reason to stay and keep you around. What you just told me? You tell her."

"Sir…" She pouted, a little exasperated; Pride, in answer, simply glared at the brunette. Georgina wasn't going to get the last word just because she wanted to drop the subject- something she used to do when addressing him by "sir".

"Georgie, you may not have gotten it yet in that big brain of yours, but here, we aren't merely people who works together; we are family."

She rolled her eyes from the bed. "My parents," the words were almost dying in her throat, it was, oh, so hard, and felt dramatically wrong and guilty addressing the Major and his wife as family- referring to them as her parents- when they hadn't been that by blood.

"My parents were Navy. My brother is…" She quickly corrected herself, the loss still incredibly fresh despite the almost two years since Joseph and his wife Eve's deaths. "He was Navy. Their comrades are still like family to us. I know what you mean, but I still can't."

"Chris isn't simply a protégé to me. He is like a brother - maybe even a sort of son. Let me do this. For him."

He handed her the check she felt coming, and as soon as she saw the figures, she gasped, and folded the small, and way too precious, piece of paper. "Pride… I just can't… that's way too much and…"

He shook his head, sitting on the small plastic chair at the side of the bed. "I took care of Laurel, my dad, Loretta's kids, I bought the bar… I can do it, Georgie. I can, and I want to."

"The first year of a new business is rough, Pride. And I still can't get how you got to open to begin with….you still have so much to do there… You need that money more than we do and you know it!"

"Georgie, as a father, let me tell you this: you and Chris will need it. Furniture, food, diapers, clothes… school… maybe even a new place eventually…" A wedding, he even guessed, chuckling under his teeth. "Just say thank you, and make me happy."

And she did, knowing that she would have never made it out alive in a battle against Dwayne Cassius Pride. "Be the godfather, at least?"

Pride chuckled, satisfied, nodding; he said his hellos, and kissed her on the cheek, promising to be back again to chat and catch up; he joined his other agents, still in front of the glass wall, still focused on the babies behind the surface; they were trying to steal a glance at the incubators in the back of the room, hoping to get a glimpse of Baby Girl Newman.

He patted Chris on the shoulder, his agent looking just like he did the day he first saw his own baby girl so many years before.

"The LaSalle basketball team is one step closer to coming true, uh?" He asked, already imagining he and Christopher sharing conversations in the future, debating on how handle their daughters' dates and how soon would be Caitlin allowed to date to begin with .

Chris beamed, his eyes still focused on little Caitlin.

He didn't even answered his best friend.

His mind was only on his baby, and his baby alone.