A/N: Good gosh - remind me to never check my email at 5am again. Five facebook wallposts from Julia, Lisa and Allie results in me sat watching a certain scene from 5-11am while talking to insomniacs in America on MSN.

There are no words. Other than Anna Belknap owes me a box of tissues. Do you hear Anna, I'm gonna hunt you down for those tissues. I mean it.

I have to mention Lisa and actually, I wanna dedicate this one to her. For all the facebook conversations we've had, praying we get a scene like this. They heard us, girly!

And also, dedicating this one to Julia. Just 'cause she's about as strong as a certain Messer getting back up when you've been knocked down.

Post-ep oneshot; season 6, episode 4; Dead Reckoning.

Closing her eyes again in her and her husband's bed, Lindsay Messer stretched, inwardly begging for two more minutes. Hell, she'd take fifty seconds extra in bed after the day she'd had. But no, when Lucy called, she called – and she wouldn't stop calling till Mommy dragged her butt out of bed and tended to whatever Lucy needed.

Not that Lindsay minded or cared in the slightest. She'd function on no sleep at all if it meant her daughter was happy.

Deciding that no one else was going to go and tend to her precious baby girl, Lindsay flung her legs round the side of the bed and furrowed her eyebrows at the empty space on Danny's side of the bed. Padding out into the hallway, slightly disorientated and hugely exhausted, Lindsay rubbed the back of her neck as she narrowed her eyes.

What, exactly, was Danny's wheelchair doing in their daughter's bedroom? And why was it that Lucy was giggling instead of wailing?

Sucking up how tired she was, she stepped her pace up and headed into Lucy's room; where she was met with a sight she'd literally just been dreaming of.

A sight she'd dreamt of everyday for... as long as she could remember now.

Lindsay made eye contact with her baby girl, who was grinning, almost as if to say, "Mommy, look what I got Daddy to do." The exchanged looks between mother and daughter effectively knocked the shocked expression from Lindsay's face was replaced with a huge smile, stretching from one side of her face to the other.

Feeling his wife's presence, Danny turned; slowly but surely, one step at a time to ensure both he and his baby girl were safe how they were. Supporting her head with his hand, her forehead pressed against his rugged cheek, his eyes met with Lindsay's and just looked at her. His eyes were trying to convey how sorry he had been for their previous argument about how he'd 'walked' out of therapy, after he'd told Lindsay previously it'd gone fine.

It didn't matter to her that he was struggling, because she was there for him when he was struggling like that... What did matter was the fact that he couldn't turn around to her and say, "It didn't go too well, but we'll talk about it later on," or something even as simple as, "eesh... I'd rather not right now..." What her problem was, and what she didn't like was the fact that he was slowly getting a habit of lying to her.

But – but, he'd rectified what he'd done. Slowly. With a nudge in the right direction from his usual support system.

Hawkes had gone to Lindsay in the locker room as Danny waited by the elevator at the end of shift, as a concerned friend to a concerned wife about him and how he'd given up in his therapy session. They'd talked and Sheldon Hawkes had relayed all what had happened to Lindsay and asked her to just... just work her magic and give him the kick up the ass she had gotten so good at dishing out when needs must with her beloved, damn stubborn, husband.

So that had been that – she'd stored the information in the back of her mind and on they went. They'd commuted home together. She'd made dinner. She'd asked him again how therapy went. And he lied, again. So, she set to on verbally kicking his ass for giving up after how far he'd come. He'd shrugged. She'd yelled saying she was back to square one, believing in him all by herself. He'd sighed. She smashed her hands on the coffee table in the living room and growled at him that Lucy'd be running across Central Park by herself, and she knew that he didn't want that for his little girl. He'd looked down. Defeated. She shuffled over to him, knelt down in front of his chair, and reminded him that he'd promised her that he was going to dance with her, and her daughter at her wedding – and while he was sat in the chair he couldn't do that- which wasn't going to work for her, because whether he liked it or not, she WAS dancing with him at their daughter's wedding. He'd cupped her face with his hands, pressed a kiss to her lips and told her he loved her.

They'd gone to bed happier. But things just seemed... things were different. She felt different. The way he wrapped his arms around her had felt different. Something had changed between them.

Now, she knew, as she stood watching him stand with his baby girl wrapped in his arms that something had in fact changed between them.

He'd changed.

And God did she love him.

She took a deep breath as his eyes met hers again after he'd briefly glanced down to Lucy's smiling face, and as he looked to her, she could see the tears in his eyes.

Seeing him like that sparked the tears in her own eyes, which then sparked the overwhelming emotions that begged to be released inside of her.

She laid her head against the doorframe of her baby girl's door and just let the tears flow for a moment. She let the relief wash over her. She let herself feel joy. The sinking feeling in her stomach that she'd had since she'd seen the blood on his hands in the bar, disappeared. Since he told her he couldn't move his legs, the look in her eyes that represented the hurt for her husband suffering seemed to be lifted and her eyes now sparkled like they used to.

"C'mon," he whispered as he held his arm out for her. "Baby, c'mere."

She was across the room in mere seconds and while she was mindful of him and his still unsteady feet; she fell into his arms and snuggled into his embrace with their daughter. She took a deep breath as she laid her head in the crook of his shoulder while Lucy reached for her mother's now short tresses.

"Ah –ah," Danny smiled at his little girl, "What did Daddy tell you about that, Luce? We don't tug on Mommy's hair... Daddy's still chucking his toys that she cut it in the first place."

Still sniffling and still buried in the crook of her husband's neck Lindsay pressed a kiss to the juncture of his neck. "What changed?" she whimpered. "What made you...? How? Why?"

"I keep the promises I make," he whispered as he pressed a kiss to her temple as he rocked Lucy in his arms. "I promised you I'd dance with you at our daughter's wedding. I can't dance in my wheelchair... And I don't intend on learnin' how'ta do that. I mean, I gotta learn how'ta dance, but if I'm learning how to dance, it's gonna be with you and we're gonna go to classes. It's gonna be something we do together. Mommy and Daddy time, ya'know? Husband and wife time. You and me time."

Lindsay spluttered as Lucy fussed in Danny's arms.

"I promised our daughter the day she was born that I was gonna make sure she has the best daddy, Linds," Danny whispered as he pressed a kiss to Lindsay's temple after soothing Lucy's fussiness. "I promised her that we'd spend days in Central park together, racing to the ice cream man, feeding the ducks...All that stuff. I'm not gonna break my promise to her, Lindsay. I mean look at her," Danny whispered as he pressed a kiss to his daughter's temple, "She doesn't deserve me to give up on the childhood that I've promised her."

Tears continued to fall like they had when she was rested against the doorframe. Silence fell between them except for Lucy's excited babble.

"Why you cryin'?" he whispered as he thumbed a tear away and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "You okay, Linds?"

"I'm fine," she sniffled as she poked Lucy's nose before wiping her own tears away.

"You don't look fine, baby girl."

"I'm just proud of you," she sniffled, desperate to stop the flow of tears. "And I love you."

He turned her slightly and stood so that his forehead was resting against hers, Lucy snuggled between her parents. He rubbed his nose against hers before placing a kiss to her lips. "I wouldn't be stood here right now if it wasn't for you. You and you only."

She spluttered her tears.

"You always believe in me and give me that boost I need."

"I just make you see when you've got your eyes closed and being a stubborn ass."

"And you felt the latter part of that sentence was necessary?" Danny whispered against her lips. "Really babe?"

She giggled and initiated a kiss that was quickly brought to a stop when Lucy reached up and touched both their faces with her little tiny hands. Turning their attention to their daughter, both Danny and Lindsay let out a slow, laboured and liberating breath.

"Remember when we did this when we first brought her home," Danny whispered. "Stood here, me holding her, just staring at her like how we are now... How delicate and fragile we thought she was."

"And how we couldn't believe that she was a part of both of us... And how perfect she was."

"And how we vowed and declared to keep her little forever?" Danny chuckled.

"Honey, that was just you," Lindsay smirked.

Moving his head slightly, Danny pressed a kiss to Lindsay's forehead and inhaled her scent for a minute. "We need to sleep."

"Try telling Lucy that..."

"Lucy, Mommy and Daddy need to sleep, close your eyes and be a good girl."

Lucy merely blinked at her father before breaking out into a big smile and giggling.

"Well, she's developing your deadpan stare and the grin..."

"Ssshh," Lindsay whispered, a finger held to her lips, "she's slow blinking, go put her in the crib... We may get away with another hour or two before she wakes up..."

A flash of horror displayed across Danny's face as he realised how far he'd moved away from the crib. "Linds... I..."

"You can do it," she reassured him. "I know you can."

Backing away slowly and giving him enough room to feel confident to do it solo, Danny carefully moved across the fluffy carpet on Lucy's bedroom floor and took a deep breath as he made his way to the crib.

Standing back with her arms folded across her chest, Lindsay took a deep breath before letting it go again. She watched her husband lower their daughter back into her crib. He stood for a second, watching Lucy snuggle up and settle in her crib, before he turned and smiled widely at her.

She moved across the room and held her hand out as she pulled him carefully towards her and pressed a kiss to his unshaven jaw. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he whispered.

She tugged on his hand and led him to his wheelchair placed by the door.

"You know what... leave it in here for me, will you?"

Blinking, Lindsay cocked her head, "Say that again?"

"I'm tryin' somethin' out," he said through gritted teeth. "Let me see your hand."

Offering her hand, Danny took it instantly and laced his fingers through hers. "Right, you - me... bed... now."

"It's been a while since you've said that," she smiled, a small blush coming over her.

"Give me a month Linds, and I promise you and I will... We'll..."

She held a finger over his lips and smiled, "One step at a time, Casanova."

He chuckled and despite his slow steps, he pulled her into his side and pressed a kiss to her temple as they turned into their bedroom, his arm draped over her shoulders.

She helped him into bed, and before she could cover him up like she had just become accustomed to, he pulled her down onto the bed, and wrapped his arms around her.

She shrieked and giggled as his fingers made work on her sides finding all the areas where he knew she was ticklish.

"Ssssh!" He whispered in her ear as he nibbled it lightly, "You'll wake the baby."

Shifting in his arms she turned so that she was laid on her side, facing him. "How long have you wanted to say that?"

"Since the day I met you," he smiled as he pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. "Go to sleep, Linds,"

"G'night Dan," she whispered as she snuggled into his pillow.

She took a deep breath as she closed her eyes. Together, they were slowly doing it. Getting through that crazy thing called life – and all the stuff it liked to throw in their direction.

She knew though, that at the end of every day, they were in it together.

And that was all that really mattered.