A/N: Hi all. I hope you guys like this one; I really didn't know what to do with that episode, but Fred managed to come up with this. So we'll see I guess.
P.S. Anna/Lindsay's white blouse with Green sweater cardigan in one of the last scenes she was in? OMG! Thank you wardrobe... LOVED. IT.
Post ep oneshot, season 6, episode 6; It Happened To Me.
The mood was solemn between husband and wife as they entered their apartment, despite the fact that their baby girl was eagerly babbling in the living room awaiting their return.
The silence between them wasn't because of an argument, a disagreement or general hard feelings toward the other - neither felt like laughing, giggling and generally being happy was appropriate after finding out what'd happened regarding their co-worker.
Regarding their friend.
Once inside the apartment, Danny forked off into the kitchen and Lindsay removed her shoes before padding into the living room and smiling brightly at their baby girl.
"You guys are home early," the babysitter smiled.
"We wrapped the case up, brought paperwork home; so you can get off early."
The babysitter smiled in return and took Lucy from her mother's arms. "We'll continue our World War two thesis paper tomorrow Lucy, k?"
Lucy shrieked happily and clapped her hands together as she leant forwards and pressed an open mouthed kiss to her babysitter's cheek.
"I'll take that as a yes," she giggled before handing the baby girl back to her mother. "She's gonna be such a geek when she's older..."
"Well, she's definitely my daughter then." Lindsay smirked.
"Same time tomorrow Mrs Messer?"
"Danny's in an hour later, so you can sleep in," Lindsay smiled. "And I told you, it's Lindsay."
"I know, I know.... And I love you," Haley smiled as she graciously rubbed Lindsay's arm. "Like really."
"So long as you promise me you start working on that thesis. It's been going on for months now. If you don't - I'm going to say usual time, sit your butt down at the breakfast bar for an hour and watch you write your damn paper."
"I'm waiting for inspiration." Haley declared. "I'm not about to push it."
"You're going to have to push it when you're sat up at three am the night before it's supposed to be submitted with just a title and introduction on your page."
"Yes Mom." Haley smirked. "I hear you, I do..."
"So do it," Lindsay smiled. "See you tomorrow. And you better hope your butt works on this paper tonight – otherwise..." Lindsay dragged her finger across her neck. "As our ME says; off with the head."
"I'll see you tomorrow with a half finished thesis paper," Haley assured Lindsay before turning on her heel, grabbing her bag and coat and letting herself out the door.
Lindsay let out a heavy breath as she flumped down on the couch, holding her baby girl. She felt bad for smiling and laughing with Haley moments previous when really, she should be trying to think of ways to help Sheldon. To get the disappointment she felt out of her system.
It wasn't disappointment at him for trying his hand at increasing the money he had behind him. She admired his guts at his willingness to do such a thing.
What she personally was disappointed at, was the fact that he'd not uttered a word to anyone about his hardships he was facing. It had taken a life or death situation to bring it out of him. And that wasn't the Sheldon Hawkes she knew.
The Sheldon Hawkes she knew gave her Danny Messer an earful when he'd thrown the towel in at therapy. The Sheldon she knew ran around New York City fixing things and being the solid guy that people went to when they had problems.
She also thought that the Sheldon Hawkes she knew would feel comfortable enough to go to one of the team if he had a problem.
Yes, she had Danny as an instant confidant- both at home and on the team at work. And likewise, he had her. But, they'd never cornered themselves off, making them inaccessible to the rest of the team. She liked to think that if a team member needed to talk, they would be more than happy to ask to lend an ear for a moment or two from either of them.
Lucy clawing at her face with her little hands brought her back from the train of thought she was on, and she smiled brightly at her baby girl. But she failed to fool her daughter. Lucy stuck her bottom lip out and whimpered – sensing Lindsay's mood.
Lindsay could tell that Lucy was looking for Daddy. Somehow, Lucy knew that Daddy needed to come into the living room and make Mommy all better.
She just couldn't see Daddy.
"Hey Danny?" Lindsay called voice heavy with sadness. "Could you come here a minute?"
"Sure, gimme a second."
Lindsay sighed as she laid her head back against the couch, letting Lucy squirm on her lap for a little while.
Meanwhile, stood in the kitchen, Danny gazed down at his Cheque book, rubbing his face as he leant his forehead against one of the kitchen cupboards.
He really didn't have to think about this. He knew that he wanted to do it. And if he mentioned it to Lindsay; she'd be game as well.
It was just getting Sheldon on board was proving to be the problem in his mind.
He'd already written the cheque. It wasn't much – but it was something; just a boost to get Hawkes back on his feet. But the guy was too proud. There's no way he'd accept the gesture.
Yet, there was something inside of Danny niggling desperately – begging him to do this one thing for his friend.
"Danny? You alive in there?"
"Sorry babe," he sighed as he chucked the pen to the counter and grabbed his cane, "One minute."
"Hold on, I'll come to you," she called through the apartment.
He heard his wife and his baby girl shuffling through the apartment, Lindsay talking musically to their daughter with her Mommy voice. For a moment, it filled him with the –everything is alright – feeling.
And, for once in their lives together – everything with them was alright.
Finally making her way into the kitchen, Lindsay sighed heavily as she affixed Lucy to her hip. "What are you doing?" she addressed Danny's turned back.
"Thinkin'," Danny said as he turned around. "Considerin' somethin',"
"Yeah?" Lindsay pressed.
"How would you feel about lending Sheldon some money right now?" He asked in a small voice. "I mean I know it's not the best timin' with the rent coming out this week and everythin' but..."
"Danny, it's your money as much as it is mine. If you want to do something, you don't have to ask my permission."
"But we're husband and wife; we gotta talk about stuff like this. Make decisions together."
Lindsay licked her lips and sighed as she bounced Lucy on her hip. "You realise he's not going to take it, right? He's gonna say we have stuff to pay for and worry about."
"That's why I'm not walkin' out the door now takin' this over to Mac's... I know that."
"But you still want to try at least."
Danny nodded slowly as he let out a breath of frustration. "Let me see Lucy a minute,"
Lindsay smiled at her baby girl before handing her across to her Dad, letting Lucy nestle into the crook of Danny's neck before slipping her tongue into her mouth and sucking lightly.
Lindsay pulled herself up on the kitchen counter, letting her socked feet dangle as she let out a sigh. "What happened to everyone?"
Danny glanced up from bouncing Lucy lightly and looked her in the eyes. "You want the truth?"
Lindsay nodded.
"Angell died. That's what happened to everyone."
Lindsay sighed and nodded.
Silence fell between them as Danny merely gazed down at his baby girl as she snuggled into her father's body.
Lindsay didn't really know what to say for the best. She could push Danny and have him snap under the emotional pressure of the day – in fact, the past few months would be more appropriate for the time frame of the emotional strain they'd all been under. Alternatively though, she could have him open up like she'd gotten good at.
She was about to open her mouth to go with the latter option before Danny's voice cut her off.
"My friends are fallin' to pieces, Linds, and I really don't think there's anything I can do to help them."
"What makes you say that?" she asked quietly, coaxing him to get everything off of his chest.
"Well, I can't get through to Flack 'cause of the barrier he put up around himself the second his girl died. He's just a shell nowadays, existing from one day to the next."
Lindsay couldn't argue, or add anything else to that. Danny had summed Flack's current state in two sentences.
"Adam and Stella are all over the place and God knows what's going on there. I actually don't want to know to be quite honest."
Lindsay again, couldn't argue.
"Mac... There's somethin' going on with him. I don't know whether it's him takin' to heart all the shit that's happenin' with us or what... But he walks a little more I don't know... like there's something heavy on his shoulders."
Once again, Lindsay couldn't argue with her husband.
"And now Sheldon..." Danny trailed off.
"Everything works out in the end," Lindsay whispered. "You know that."
"Do I?" Danny sighed.
"We worked out."
"We were always gonna work out," Danny told her. "There was never any doubt in my mind about that. The state of both Flack and Hawkes right now, and them being able to pull it round on their own? That I doubt."
Lindsay trailed her fingertips through her tresses. "I have a suggestion."
Danny raised his eyebrows, "I'll take anythin' at this point."
"You're not gonna like it," she warned him.
"At this point, I don't care."
She took a second before continuing, "Let's let this go for now."
Danny raised an eyebrow.
"There's nothing we can do and there is no point worrying and getting ourselves down about everything that's happening. We've walked through the door carrying all these burdens when really, we should have left them at the door – just like we said that we would. Lucy can sense when we're upset, and look at her. She only sucks her thumb when she got sick that one time with the sniffles, and when she's sad. And she's in a perfect bill of health right now... so that means..."
"She's sensed what's going on and she doesn't like it." Danny concluded.
"I'm as upset for Hawkes and Flack as you are baby, but there's nothing we can do until they want to help themselves." Lindsay reasoned.
Danny nodded as he held his arm towards her. She jumped off the counter and headed over to Danny and snuggled into his outstretched arm.
"I'm sorry," he whispered as he pressed a kiss to her temple.
"What for?" she asked.
"That our first year of married life sucks this bad."
She pulled away from him slightly and furrowed her brow. "Do you really think I married you expecting it to be sunshine and daisies?"
"It would'a been nice."
"Yeah, it would have been nice, but that just doesn't happen." Her fingertips slid to his and intertwined them together. "But you know what is nice?"
"What?"
"The fact that I've had you by my side through everything that happened,"
Danny smiled. "And we've both had someone else too."
"She goes unsaid," Lindsay cooed over their baby girl, laid still in her father's arms. "Cause she's the bestest thing in Mommy and Daddy's life."
Lucy giggled and instantly removed her thumb from her mouth before reaching for Lindsay.
"Sell out," Danny muttered. "As soon as you turn your Mom voice on, she ditches Dad."
"Put on a squeaky voice and we'll see how far you get with her then," Lindsay giggled.
"Wisebutt,"
"I'm glad you've taken to my no profanity." Lindsay smirked.
"It's only cause her mind's like a sponge and if she curses for her first word, you'd have my butt."
"You're damn right I would."
"Ahem."
"That didn't count." Lindsay giggled.
"Dinner?"
"Starving," Lindsay smirked, "And I'm sure it's your turn to make and my turn to sit and watch.
"Conveniently," Danny muttered.
"I'm in the mood for Italian," Lindsay smiled.
"In what sense?"
"The Disney, innocent, baby sat here sense..." Lindsay smirked with raised eyebrows as she leant against the counter with Lucy. "Young sponge affixed to Mommy's hip, Daddy."
"Yeah, yeah... What do you want?"
"All that linguine talk today put me in the mood for Messer's special."
"You looked pretty today," Danny told her as he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, chuckling at her previous joke. "The whole white blouse and the green sweater thing, it looked really nice, sweetheart."
She blushed and stood up on her tiptoes, enabling her to press a kiss to Danny's rugged cheek. "You know," she smiled, "I think I might keep you around with compliments like that."
"Oh yeah?" Danny smirked as he slowly opened the kitchen cupboards to grab the ingredients for Lindsay's requested dinner. "That's always good to know."
Soon after, the two fell into silence, with the sounds of their daughter babbling breaking the silence and then them giggling in response as Danny quickly made work on dinner.
Despite the fact that outside of their apartment, their worlds and the people in them were slowly falling to pieces; inside the confines of their apartment the only thing that mattered was the little family they'd created - and how much they loved each other.
Everything else in the world could wait once the front door shut after their shifts at work – their family came first. Just every so often when the bad vibes had slipped through the barrier of the door, they had to remind themselves of that.
'Cause after all, everything always works out at the end of the day.
Thanks for reading :) I'd love to know what you thought.