On Shane's first day back to work, it also coincided with Alexis' one-on-one appointment with her therapist. How funny was that, he thought. She was an MD who treated some of the city's biggest hard-asses under the age of sixteen, and she was in need of counseling because her two month old baby occasionally scared the hell out of her.

It was nice to be able to have a little laugh about it now, though a small part of Shane wondered if he should put off the welcome back beers the Ry-Sposito Monster insisted upon. It made him feel a little scuzzy to think that he'd be the guy to go swanning off while leaving the little woman at home with the baby, but he knew that if he didn't go said little woman would kick his ass into the middle of the following week for being such a sissy-pants.

As shift start was at six am today, it was perfect time when Petra woke around three for her snack. With a kiss on Alexis' shoulder, he slipped out of bed, and headed for the nursery where he found his little girl lying on her back grabbing at her toes. He'd figure it out that when Petra was doing so, it meant a fresh diaper was needed straight away. Once fixed up, Shane took Petra into the kitchen took her bottle from the fridge to warm it.

'Yeah, it's a big day today, my precious gem,' he told her, 'Papa's back to work today. I gotta go make the city a safer place for you by helping the police to catch all the bad guys.'

'Blb.'

'Yeah you'll be here with Mumum, you guys have some plans today I bet. She's got some reading to do, and she's going to talk to Bubbe and Opi on the computer for you to see.'

'Blb.'

Shane laughed as Petra wriggled lightly in his arms while he programmed the Keurig for coffee. 'Yeah, yeah, miss wormy-worm it's almost time for a snack. Hold your britches.'

When he got the bottle up to Petra's mouth, she latched on with such ferocity that Shane had to wince a little, thinking of Alexis. No wonder her nipples were sore if that was the multi-times a day treatment they got from their little angel.

'Easy killer,' he chuckled lowly, as he gently ran his fingertip under her lips so she wouldn't forget to breathe.

Cradling the still-snacking baby, Shane headed for the living room where he opened the laptop to read up on CNN's pre-dawn breaking news. By the time his coffee was ready, Petra had emptied her bottle and was yawning a little; as Shane rose to put her back to bed, Alexis appeared in her shorts and t-shirt, scratchign her head.

'Hey, baby, didn't hear you two get up.'

'Little miss was pretty quiet today, hungry as usual. Think she was sleeping-eating most of her bottle,' Shane replied on a whisper. 'You wanna hold her?'

'Yeah, I do. We're gonna cuddle in the big bed once you're off to work.'

Petra, smelling mother nearby, began to coo and creak, and Shane felt his heart go light when Alexis neatly scooped their daughter of his arms into hers, murmuring to her about little beauty queens needing their beauty rest. With a kiss for them both, he headed for the shower to get ready for the start of his day.

'Hey, look who's back!'

Shane looked up from the break-room fridge where he was stowing his lunch-kit to see Lanie in her scrubs with basgs under her pretty brown eyes. 'Hey Doctor Parrish-Robbins.'

'How's Alexis feeling?'

'A lot better. We've been going to group and one-on-one counseling with her therapist. Doctor Mulgrew is the best.'

'She's very maternal, she knows her stuff,' Lanie agreed. 'Heard you guys had your own little getaway night. That's great that you guys were able to do that. It really helped me when I was having some troubles after Finn. Dave and I made a weekend of it, and it was exactly what I needed.'

'Thanks, I think,' Shane laughed, closed the door. 'So what's Pearlmutter up to these days?'

'He's on leave himself, guest lecturing at Johns Hopkins, so guess who's the boss until he's back.' Lanie gave a wiggle of eyebrows, making Shane laugh even more.

'You're the deputy medical examiner, Lanie, that makes sense. How come you're here so early?'

'Worked a double so I could have Saturday off for Christmas tree hunting,' she replied. 'You and Alexis are coming with, right, you'll bring the baby?'

'We're coming but I don't know if Petra is coming or not.'

'As tricky as it might seem, the kids will have your heads on a plate if you deny them a chance to spend time with their baby.' Lanie walked him down the hall to his autopsy theatre. 'Finn wants to know about Christmas gifts, and Violet is asking if she can play for Petra in the dreidl game for Chanukkah.'

'Wow.' He shook his head. 'Those are some great kids.'

'So, go get changed into your scrubs, I've got a couple of fresh bodies needing your expertise. Or maybe...'

Lanie trailed off as her phone went off, and she read the message from dispatch. 'Nope, you are going out into the field my good man. East Fifty-First and Lexington. You'll see Adam and Watkins there.'

'Adam?'

'Yeah, didn't you hear the news?' Lanie cocked her head to the side, blinked innocently. 'Adam was promoted and he's taken on Watkins as his trainee to be a detective.'

'Wow.'

'Yeah, exams were last Wednesday and the official promotion ceremony is a week tomorrow. Oh and you might wanna take him a coffee. Zane's had the sniffles so his sleep has been way down.'

'Sure thing.' Shane nodded, winked at her. 'It's good to be back.'