"Who is my handsome?" Lindsay asked playfully, lifting Colton off of the changing table and holding him upright. He gave her a big grin and clapped his hands together before crashing against her with a laugh.

"Shh, daddy's sleeping," she said, taking him out of his bedroom quietly and heading into the living room. "He had a long night at work."

"Ba?"

"You're exactly right. Can you play with your toys while I get the dishes done?"

He crawled over to his toy basket and pulled a car out, driving it across a sleeping cat and smiling.

"I suppose so," Lindsay chuckled, keeping her ear out for him as she headed into the kitchen. The sink was piled with dishes and she sighed, blowing her hair off of her forehead before turning the water on so she could rinse them before putting them in the dishwasher. Adam had been on graves for two weeks now, and he slept most afternoons and evenings, leaving her and Colton to their own devices. She missed him like crazy, but at least she got him for a few hours every morning when he finished his shift. Life was going in a thousand different directions and she grabbed every spare second that she could to just take a breath.

Colton was already nearing six months old and she couldn't believe how fast the time had gone. He was sitting up already, and while slow, he could crawl across the room. He'd started trying to talk, but hadn't connected words to objects yet. It was coming soon and she couldn't wait for the first "mama" to escape his lips. He could pull himself up on the coffee table, and if there was music on, he would wiggle to it, grinning with pride the whole time. Every day there was something new, so while she did want to slow time down, she also couldn't wait to see what was next.

Humming, she opened the dishwasher and loaded it, wondering how they had acquired so many dirty dishes in the span of one day.

"Mmmba!"

She turned around at the voice and chuckled as Colton tried to crawl to her and carry a toy at the same time.

"I thought you were going to play in the other room for a bit," she said, picking him up and nuzzling his cheek. He chewed on his finger and sighed, offering her the plastic rattle. "Hey thanks buddy. I've always wanted one of these."

She settled him in his high chair and dropped a handful of Cheerios on the tray. He looked at them and then up at her before grabbing a piece of the cereal and slowly bringing it to his mouth.

"What do you think about taking some of this dinner over to Aunt Austin and Uncle Danny? Think they might like that?"

He spit the Cheerio out, then grinned and picked it up again.

"I'm not sure what that means, but maybe I should call her and see if they want it."

She grabbed her cell phone and dialed Austin's number, hoping she didn't catch her friend in the middle of a nap.

"Hello?"

"Hey. What are you up to?"

"About eight diapers in the last three hours. You?"

"Well, I made way too much food, and I thought that maybe you guys might want some free dinner?"

"Yes please. You can bring it over and hold the baby so I can have five minutes to shower."

"How's she doing?"

"She's fine, I'm still freaking out, but not much seems to phase her, so I figure if I screw up…"

"She'll never know. We'll be over in a little while."

"Thanks."

They hung up and Lindsay moved to the stove to fill a plastic container with the spaghetti she had made. Stella had brought them dinner a few times after Colton was born, and she was surprised how much it had made a difference. She'd been so tired in those days, bound by the next feeding and length of a nap rather than time, that occasionally she forgot to eat herself. Of all the things she could do for her friend, this was quite possibly one of the best.

She found a sturdy grocery sack and put the dinner inside, then tiptoed into the bedroom to tell Adam where they were going. She hated to wake him up, but he would never find a note, no matter where she left it, so she didn't really have much choice.

"Hey babe?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm going to run over to Austin's for a bit."

"Okay."

She leaned down and kissed him, smirking because he was already asleep again, then left the room.

"Alright bud, let's see if I can get you and the food out of here in one trip."

Colton grinned as she lifted him out of the high chair and grabbed her keys, the diaper bag and the food.

"I think we're doing okay here," she said, slipping out the door and praying for the best.

She knocked gently on Austin's door and adjusted Colton on her hip, glad she had decided to leave the diaper bag in the car.

"Hey," Austin greeted in a whisper, a bundle of pink blankets in her arms.

"Hi. You look… um…"

"I think I could sleep for a month," Austin finished, stepping aside to let her in. Lindsay put the food on the counter.

"Hey Miss Isabeth, are you keeping your mommy awake at night?" Lindsay asked, peering down into the blankets at the little face that she had come to love so much in just the last week.

"She's got her nights and days mixed up, so that's fun," Austin said with a grin. "We get a lot of face time at three in the morning."

"I'll bet."

They made their way over to the couch and sat down, Colton crawling out of Lindsay's arms and over to Austin. She grinned and dropped a kiss to his head.

"I think he's lookin' to trade," she chuckled, carefully transferring her daughter over to Lindsay.

"You are way cooler than I am, after all," Lindsay agreed, taking Isa and cuddling her close. "And you my dear are quite possibly the most precious little girl I have ever seen in my life."

"I'm pretty darn smitten too," Austin agreed, reaching over to touch Isa's hand. "As tired as I am, I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"How's Danny doing?"

"He's hilarious. He's always afraid he's going to break her, but he won't say it, I can just tell by the way he holds her. The first time she looked him in the eye, I thought I was going to have to put him on life support."

"What a softie."

"He refuses to do diapers, but he's doing a huge chunk of everything else, so I don't mind much yet."

"And how has it been getting used to all the pink?"

"It's a slow process. Is this a tooth I see in your son's mouth?"

"Yeah, he popped it through last night."

"Did he scream?"

"Not much. I could tell he wasn't happy with the situation though."

"Look at us sitting here talking about our babies."

"We're growing up."

"Remember when we didn't want to?"

"Yeah. How naïve we were."

"Wasn't that just like two years ago?"

"Geez."

"I know."

"Hey, where's Danny?"

"He went to the store. We were running low on just about everything, and I think he needed to get out of here for a while without feeling guilty about it."

"And now we come to you…"

"Besides the being tired, I'm doing okay. Way better than I thought I would. There are times when I still wonder what on God's green earth I'm doing, but then it's like you said. The instincts kick in and I'm okay. And at this point, if I wasn't I'd be beating down your door because you lied to me."

"I believe it with all my heart."

Colton babbled loudly, frustrated at being left out of the conversation. Austin chuckled and wrapped him in a bear hug, kissing his cheek.

"I've kinda missed you little dude."

He smiled and rested against her shoulder, then reached out for Lindsay.

"Wa."

"No, mama."

"Wa," he repeated, as if that is what he had been saying all along.

"It was worth a shot."

"Colton, say Go Yankees."

He growled with the effort, then giggled and nuzzled into her with a sigh, putting his finger into his mouth again.

"Is it your bedtime, buddy?"

"Yeah, he's getting close. We should probably go."

"Do you have to?"

"We don't have to, but he's going to get cranky in a while."

"Alright. Give me my kid back and I'll give you yours."

"Okay. Bye-bye sweet Isa. I'll see you later."

She dropped a kiss onto the baby's downy hair before handing her over. Colton scooted himself back to her and opened his arms before falling into her lap with a giggle.

"You are so tired," she chuckled, running her hand through his curls. "Maybe you can lay down with daddy when we get home."

"Ba," he replied as she stood up from the couch.

"Call me if you need anything, okay Aust?"

"I will. Thanks for bringing dinner."

"Anytime. See you later."

Adam was just waking up when they got home, stretching and rubbing his eyes as if it was morning and not eight o'clock at night. Colton squawked and clapped his hands excitedly until Lindsay put him down on the bed.

"Hey monster," Adam greeted. "What's crackin'?"

"Ba!"

"You and mommy won a million dollars? Yay we never have to go to work again!"

Colton gave them a huge belly laugh while Adam held him up high and made airplane noises. Lindsay chuckled and laid down with them.

"How's Austin doing?"

"She's good. I'd never tell her this, but she really looks like a mom."

"And how's the baby?"

"Just like she was in the hospital. Tiny and perfect."

He grinned and glanced over at her.

"You're not getting baby fever are you?"

"I got a baby."

"Not a newborn baby."

"What are you saying Adam?"

"Nothin'."

"You dropped your G. Seriously honey."

"Do you want another one?"

"Well not right now, but eventually, yes."

"How many?"

"How ever many we have."

He grinned and leaned in to kiss her.

"Well why don't we put the one we've got to bed and then I'll go to work."

"Sounds like a plan."

He stood up from the bed and took Colton into the other room, and for just a moment, she let the future flash before her. It was beautiful.