"Ah, no thank you. Nope, I'm good." Don Flack held his hands up at shoulder level as he backed away from his fiancée. The blue eyed detective frowned as Jaime laughed at him.

"Oh come on Don, it's just my brother's son. You can hold him." She bounced the smiling baby in her arms and made faces.

"I'm not that great with kids Lovato. We…ah…don't get along." Flack's Queens accent thickened as he tried to get out of holding the baby.

"Now I know you're full of it. I've seen Mac send you specifically on calls where there're kids.' Jamie sat on the couch, rocking the baby so he would fall asleep. Don took a seat next to her.

"Yeah, but I only go on cases with older kids. I don't deal well with babies." Flack wrapped an arm around Jamie's shoulder and looked at the baby. "He is cute though. Kinda looks like his aunt." Jamie laughed as Flack leaned in for a kiss.

"Nice one. Let me get up, I want to put him in the crib and then maybe I'll meet you in the bedroom." She stood up, winking as she walked away. Don grinned and bolted into their bedroom.

"So what time's the picnic again?" Flack asked as he slid a grilled cheese onto a plate and slid the plate in front of Jamie. He dropped into the chair next to her and took a drag from her glass of cranberry juice. She swatted his hand away before swallowing her bite of melted cheese.

"Hey, go pour your own juice., and we have to be at my parents' house by 5. So, I will be jumping into the shower now," Don opened his mouth, but Jamie cut him off. "And no, you can't join me."

"Lovato, this is the first day in almost two weeks that I've seen you. Can you blame me if all I want to do is-" Don had stood up and wrapped his arms around Jamie's neck, kissing the top of her head. Jamie tilted her head up so she could kiss the side of Don's jaw, it was covered in stubble and she smiled against his skin.

'I know, but we really have to get ready. Plus as soon as Jack is back with Greg and Jen, instead of staying here with me, we can do whatever we want." She planted one last kiss on his jaw and stood up, heading down the hallway and into the bathroom.

Don sunk back into his seat, "What a damn tease." He shook his head and finished the half of Jamie's grilled cheese that she had left behind. He flipped to the sports section of that day's New York Post and scanned an article about his beloved Yankees, they were doing well every since they had dropped Alex Rodriguez.

Halfway through an article about the Mets (which he was only reading so he could use the stats to tease Jamie later), Baby Jack started to cry. Don dropped the crust of the sandwich and brushed his hands off.

"Oh shit. JAY! JAMIE!' Don shouted for his fiancée a few more times before her realized that she wouldn't be able to hear him over the running water. Flack headed into the living room where the portable crib was set up and looked in. Jack was wailing and kicking his legs all over the place.

"Hey buddy, uh, hey Jack. Aw come on. Would ya stop crying?" Don waved his hand in the air over the baby's face to try and distract him. It didn't work. Flack sighed and leaned over to slip his hands under the baby's neck and back, lifting him up to his chest. Jack wailed right into Don's ear and the homicide detective winced.

"I figured loud would be a Lovato family trait." He muttered, bouncing around on the balls of his bare feet. As Jack continued to cry, Don wracked his brain, trying to think of something that would calm the eight-month-old baby down.

A few moments later, he had an idea.

Jamie came down the hallway rubbing her hair with the towel.

"Don? Shower's free. Go get ready." She called out, dropping the towel in the hallway hamper. Jamie walked into the living room, expecting to take Jack and get him dressed. She did not expect to see her homicide detective fiancée sitting on the couch with her nephew tucked close to his chest.

She locked eyes with Don, raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Well, it looks like you two bonded."

Don grinned, "Yeah, all I had to do was talk about your Mets and he fell right asleep."

Jamie's mouth dropped open, "If you weren't holding my nephew right now, I'd hit you. Hand him over and go get ready." She held out her arms and Don placed the baby in them.

"I'll be right out. Don't ruin all of my hard work." He winked and began pulling off his shirt as he strolled down to the bathroom. Jamie shook her head and brought Jack into her and Flack's room to change him.

Don joined her five minutes later, wrapping his arms around her waist, kissing the side of her neck.

"Are you kidding me? It takes me five minutes to unhook my bra!" Jamie laughed. She had thought Don would be in the shower for a little bit longer. She tickled Jack's stomach, unsnapping his onesie.

"You wanna see how long it take me to unhook your bra?" Don whispered in her ear. Jamie smacked his hand away.

"Are you kidding me? We have to be on the road in literally twenty minutes. Help me change Jack and when we get back we can do whatever you want." She smiled and handed Don the baby's diaper bag. "I'm gonna go change."

Don looked down at the baby, who was stretched out and reaching for his feet. "I guess it's just you and me bud."

Ten minutes later, Jack was changed and resting in his car carrier as Don pulled his cargo shorts and polo shirt on. Jamie wandered in , fastening a pair of flower shaped earrings.

"You really need a haircut babe." She commented, sitting down on the bed and pulling a pair of wedge sandals onto her feet. She jumped up and began throwing things into her bag. Don ran a hand through his hair. It curled around his ears.

"Yeah I know. Perils of undercover assignments. I'll go tomorrow or something. Mac probably won't let me into the precinct looking like this." He ruffled his hair, trying to get it to look a little more presentable, a task made difficult by the fact that it was dripping wet. He grabbed his phone, wallet and badge, stuffing them into one of the side pockets and grabbed a pair of aviators, sliding them onto his head.

"You ready Jay? I'll bring Jack to the living room and break down the crib thing. Meet us in there." Don lifted the carrier and grabbed a pair of shoes to put on in the living room.

"Okay, can you grab my hat from the closet?" Jamie called out as she buttoned up her green tank top and tucked them into her black shorts. Flack mumbled an affirmative answer.

Don rested the carrier on the couch as he went to work on dismantling the portable crib. He was packing it away when Jamie came out of the room.

"Okay let's go. We're running late." She slid her sunglasses onto her face and dropped the hat on top of her head. Don shouldered the crib and Jamie picked up the carrier.

"Come on baby boy. We're going to see your mom and dad. I'll bet you miss them. And boy, you look handsome in your little khakis and button down. Uncle Don did a really good job of dressing you." Jamie kept up a stream of babble as Don locked the apartment door and followed her to the parking garage.

"You're good with him Jay. It's cute." Don smiled, helping his fiancée buckle the car seat in.

"Well, he's my third nephew and I have a niece. I watched them all a lot while you were away. I figure it's good practice for us." Jamie slid into the front seat, dropping her purse and the hat on the mat by her feet. Don closed the back door, a strange look on his face. He climbed into the drivers seat and started the car silently. Jamie took notice of his silence, an unusual occurrence when the two were together.

"Don? Did I say something wrong?" she questioned twenty minutes into their forty-five minute drive. She gently touched his free hand, resting on the center console.

"Hmm? What? No nothing wrong Lovato. Just watching the road." He answered tightly, not taking his eyes off the empty highway. That was when Jamie knew something was wrong. He often called her Lovato, but never in the tone he had just used. She bit the inside of her cheek. It must have been what she said about practice. Jamie couldn't understand why he had reacted so strongly to the topic of kids, but she didn't think the car ride was the place to bring it up. They remained silent for the rest of the drive, save for the few expletives that dropped from Flack's mouth as they hit traffic.

Don parked the car in front of Jamie's parents' house and jumped out. Jamie frowned. His attitude was getting on her nerves and she desperately wanted to pull him to the side and fight this out with him. Instead she unbuckled Jack's car seat while Don got the crib and diaper bag from the trunk.

"Can you at least act like you're talking to me in front of my parents?" Jamie whispered harshly as they walked around to the back of the house. Don looked surprised.

"What the hell are you talking about Jamie? I am talking to you. You're the one not talking to me." He frowned, unlatching the gate and letting Jamie walk in front of him.

"Not now." Jamie looked back, giving Don a look that said 'Don't go anywhere' and turned back to see her mom waving at her.

"Jamie! Don! Come here!" Catherine Lovato was an Italian mother for sure. She pulled Don and Jamie into a huge hug, kissing both of them on the cheek. "It's been too long. Don, look at your hair! Ah, it's much too long. And you," She turned to face her only daughter, "are far too skinny. Don't you cook? I taught you so many recipes this summer. In six months when you're a married woman are you going to cook for this wonderful man or are you going to let him starve? Jamie Marie we have a lot to teach you."

Jamie opened her mouth and then thought better of it. Instead she offered up Jack as a distraction and much like shine attracts magpies, the sight of her grandson sent Catherine off in a different direction. She took the carrier and began cooing to the baby, walking away and towards the patio. Jamie could see that her three sisters-in-law were all congregated around the table.

She looked around and saw her father and one of her brothers by the barbeque and made to walk over to them, but was stopped by Don's hand on her elbow.

"We're going to talk now." He slid his sunglasses onto his head, pushing the long, black hair out of his eyes. Jamie could see that he wasn't happy, nor was he talking no for an answer.

"Fine, let's go inside." Jamie led her fiancée into the house and up the stairs to her old bedroom. She sat on the bed and crossed her arms. "Alright, let's hear it. What's eating your ass?" She scowled at him, more upset that he wouldn't talk to her than angry.

Don leaned against the wooden dresser. "Nothing's eating my ass Lovato. You're the one that wanted to talk now. I was ready to have a nice family barbeque." He mimicked her tone and scowl.

"Don't even give me that crap. You won't talk to me for the hour fifteen drive and now you're making fun of me? I don't even know if I want you part of this family. Don we're getting married, we should be able to talk to each other." Jamie fought the insecurity that was rising to the surface.

Don sighed and rubbed his face with his hands, suddenly looking much older than his 36 years. Jamie instantly felt bad for attacking him, but then she thought about the cold shoulder he had given her and was instantly mad again.

"Jay, I'm not making fun of you. I don't know what I'm doing. It's been the longest fucking week and a half of my life and then you threw this baby thing at me. I can't deal with this right now. I needed time to figure things out in my head." Don took the desk chair from its position and dropped it in front of the bed, sitting backwards so he could rest on the back.

"Oh," Jamie's voice was small. "I didn't think having kids was such a big turn-off for you. Maybe we should have talked about this before getting engaged, because if you don't want kids-" she was interrupted.

"I never said that Jamie. I never said I didn't want kids. I'm scared to have them okay?" Don groaned, never in a million years did he think he would be having this conversation. There had been a point where he might have had it with Jess, but now it was different. Kids were a real possibility with Jamie Lovato and Don Flack was scared as hell.

"It's not like I know what I'm doing either. We'll figure it out as we go along." Jamie smiled internally, this was something they could work out. He wasn't having second thoughts about marrying her. This would all be okay.

Don shook his head, "It's not that, well part of it is, but it's more…a fear of not coming back. I don't want to leave my kids without a dad, or without a mom. We're cops Lovato," This time the 'Lovato' was full of warmth, "We're homicide detectives. We're not mall cops. One day one of us may not come back. And leaving a kid alone…that's the worst thing I've seen in all my years with NYPD."

"Don," Jamie leaned forward to grab his hands, "Why couldn't you have just said that two hours ago? It would have saved me a lot of internal anguish." She smiled, causing Don to smile back. "Lindsay and Danny manage with Lucy and Matty. We can figure it out too, now that I understand you better."

Don stood up from the chair, "I'm not making any promises Lovato, but we can definitely see what happens." He pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "I don't want to leave you behind. I've already dealt with too much loss." He said into her hair and Jamie knew he was talking about Jess.

"I won't leave you." She pulled away and tilted her head up to look Don in the eyes. "I won't."

Don leaned down to kiss her. The couple was in the middle of an intense kiss when Catherine walked in. 'Oh! I'm so sorry. I'll just come back." Jamie and Don sprung apart and Jamie shook her head.

"No, we're coming out now Mom. We just had to discuss something." She stumbled over her words, mortified that her mother have caught her. Catherine nodded knowingly and walked out of the room. Jamie dropped her head to Don's chest. "That was so embarrassing. She hasn't caught me making out with anyone in years."

Don laughed, "You're thirty-three, and we've been dating for over a year, I think they might realize we have something going on."

Jamie gaped at him, "Stop that! Who know which one of my brothers is walking by. Let's just go back down." She looped her fingers with Don's and led him back to the backyard.

Jamie's youngest oldest brother, Joe, found them as the walked out of the house. He handed each one a beer and struck up a conversation with Don.

"I'm going to go see if Mom needs any help." Jamie excused herself, squeezing Don's hand before she walked away. Her mom was with two of her sisters-in-law by the outdoor bar.

"Do you need any help mom?" Jamie leaned against the brick, taking a sip from her beer bottle. Catherine shook her head.

"I have everything under control honey. Sit down with Maggie and Andrea. We never get to talk anymore." Catherine took a seat at the table with her daughter and waited for Jamie to start the conversation. Jamie sat and looked at her mom.

"What? Is there a question you'd like to ask? The three of you look like you're gonna burst." She leaned back in the chair and took a swig from the bottle in her hand.

Andrea, the wife of her oldest brother Mike, looked at the other two women. "Well, we were just wondering if you and Don were okay. According to your mom you haven't talked about him in two weeks and Jen said it didn't look like he'd been in your apartment for a while when she dropped Jack off on Wednesday. And then you two came in her looking angry. We were just concerned." Andrea looked uncomfortable at having to blurt all of this out and Jamie frowned at her mother.

"This is how you choose to have a conversation. Oh for God's sake Mom, you could've just asked when we talked yesterday." Jamie shook her head. She looked over at Don, his head thrown back in laughter at something Joe had said. He had told her not to mention his little undercover sting to anyone, that's why she hadn't talked about him, fear of slipping kept her mouth shut.

Maggie cut in, "Oh no Jamie, we didn't want to upset you. We were just worried that you and Don had been in a fight. You don't have to tell us, it's really your business." Maggie was Joe's wife, only a year older than Jamie and by far the most placating of her sisters-in-law. Jamie had immediately taken a shine to her.

"No, I guess I'll just have to tell you." Jamie waved a hand in the air, bangle bracelets clinking, "Mom will just try and get it out of me some other way. Don and I did have a fight this afternoon, a small one and we resolved it. And as for our apartment," here she glared pointedly at Jen's back, hallway across the yard, "He's been working late on cases and hasn't been home to do more than eat and sleep. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to talk to Dad, someone who won't grill me about my relationship." She left the empty beer bottle on the table and walked away.

"Hey Dad, need any help?" Jamie leaned up to give her dad a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey kiddo, I'm pretty much good here. Greg helped me out before you got here. You can keep me company as I finish up with these burgers though." Tony Lovato smiled at his only daughter before wrapping an arm around her in a half hug. He didn't see her as much as he would like and he wasn't too thrilled that she had following in his footsteps to become a cop. "You being careful out there? Flack's not a distraction right?"

Jamie patted her dad on the shoulder. "Dad, I'm fine, and Don is not a distraction. We rarely work the field together anyway. Mac makes sure of that."

"Good, I'm glad you're working under this Mac Taylor, he's got a good reputation. I still wish you'd gone into something safer." Tony shook his head, flipping a burger.

Jamie laughed, they'd had this conversation a million times, "Like what Dad? Teaching? Accounting? Law? I was meant to be a cop and you know that. Anyway, someone had to carry on the family business."

Tony opened his mouth to say something, but four-year-old Grace ran up and tugged on Jamie's shorts. "Aunt Jamie! Pick me up." Jamie laughed and complied, hoisting her niece onto her hip.

"I'll be back Dad. Gonna spend some quality time with Gracie." She walked off, talking to Grace in a conspiratorial tone, their head bent together. Tony shook his head, hoping his daughter really was being as safe as she said she was.

Don and Jamie left around 11, hoping for a quick ride back into the city. Catherine had tried to get them to stay, but Don had been whispering in her ear about all the things he wanted to do to her and Jamie had been so vehement in her 'No' that Catherine thought she was still mad at her.

The drive had been moving quickly, until an accident held them up.

"Sometimes I wish be lived somewhere with no traffic. This is ridiculous." Jamie complained as they entered their fifteenth minute of complete standstill.

Don snorted, "Like where? Long Island suburbia with a white picket fence and 2.5 kids with a golden retriever. Come on Lovato, we're New Yorkers. No matter how much you say it, you'd hate living anywhere but Manhattan."

"Okay you might be right, but wouldn't it be so much easier to raise kids in a suburban town?" Jamie twisted her hair into a bun at the top of her head and unbuckled her wedges.

"Why? What's so much easier about it? Danny and Lindsay are doing just fine here."

"You're a cop Don, use your imagination. Would you really want a kid exposed to that?"

"Lucy's been exposed to that since day one, I think she's doing okay."

"But Lindsay's from the Midwest, she's more motherly that I am, that's why Lucy and Matty are turning out great."

Don raised his eyebrows, "Is that what this is about? Your maternal instincts? What you think if we're living on the Island that your instincts will be better? Come on Jamie, you know that's not how it works. Danny's a New Yorker, he's a great dad."

Jamie sighed, "I don't know Don. A few hours ago I was so ready to have kids and then seeing Jen and Andrea with their kids and giving up their careers. I don't know if I want to stop being a cop."

"Who said you had to? For someone who says women are easy to understand, you're sure as hell giving me a rough time of it." Don shook his head, "Like you said, we'll figure it out as we go. And like I said, I'm not promising anything. Okay?"

Jamie nodded, thinking that this man was definitely going to make a great father one day. And hopefully she'd make an equally great mother.

A/N: Wow, this became a monstrosity. It was supposed to be a fun, fluffy little Flavato drabble because I love the two of them together. Now it's over 3,800 words! Quick reminder that this is my first ever CSI:NY story and I have close to no idea how to write for these guys. I'd appreciate any and all feedback, good and bad. So don't be shy! Hopefully there'll be more Flavato in the future and a Season 10 for CSI:NY! Please, please read anf review! :)