Danny climbed the stairs to his apartment slowly and with heavy feet. He’d just pulled a double for Mac on a triple homicide and he was really looking forward to crashing on the couch with some cold pizza, maybe a beer or two, and watching Jon Stewart and Family Guy reruns. If Aiden was home and not working late at the museum the way she had been all this week, then double bonus. He missed her.

They were only five months into their relationship as lovers, but they’d been best friends and partners for almost three years before and they were joined at the hip anyway, so her moving in with Danny had actually felt pretty natural. She already had a key, kept half her DVDs and CDs at Danny’s and helped keep the fridge stocked, so it had felt good to get out of the your-place-or-mine-tonight limbo.

Not to mention the little detail of Aiden’s apartment flooding a month earlier, making her homeless and Danny a willing host. Danny had been very up front from the beginning about his hesitations and inexperience concerning a long-term relationship – not that any of it had really been a surprise to Aiden – and they were taking it nice slow, not pushing any family expectations or solid future plans. They were living day to day mostly. But after tripping over her duffel bag of clothes trying to head out for a three a.m. B and E in the dark and almost needing stitches from bouncing his head off the bedroom door, Danny insisted on giving up a drawer in his dresser and most of his closet. Her apartment pipes had been fixed two and half weeks earlier, but it had been agreed in a carefully off-hand manner that moving her furniture, possessions and the remainder of her clothing to Danny’s bare loft apartment was easier than dragging the godforsaken duffel back over there.

Danny had never been Mr. Adult Relationship and was very possessive of his personal space, but having a warm body to crawl into bed with every night, a girl who watched the same shows and liked the same take-out joints, someone who really made him laugh no matter how worked up the job got him…it was kinda…nice. Aiden had her own commitment issues – what with her mom taking off when she was little kid, leaving her and her four brothers in the sole care of their working class dad – and Danny knew better than to push it when she was teary or snappy, but it was actually working out between them. Slowly but surely, Aiden told Stella when she asked. Danny had to admit he was as A-OK with the slowly as he was with the surely.

Finally mounting the last stair, Danny shuffled down the hall to his apartment door, rubbing at the kinks in his neck. He paused in front of the door for a second, and sighed when he didn’t hear any noise or movement from within. But just as he was sliding the key into the lock, the bolt sounded and the door swung open. Danny stumbled in surprise and gave Aiden a dirty look.

“Jeez, gimme a heart attack, why don’t you.” He grumbling, actually feeling more relieved to see her home than he wanted to admit. She was wearing her work clothes, loose jeans and a paint streaked long sleeve, with her hair pinned up messily and her face clear of any make-up. Danny thought she looked awfully sexy. He leaned in to kiss her, but she stopped him with both hands on his chest.

“Wait. Um, just…wait a sec.” Aiden insisted softly.

Danny frowned, unconsciously leaning into the warmth of her hands. “What? Whatsa matter?”

He noticed she had music playing. ‘Try Your Wings’ by Blossom Dearie. Aiden, being the more obviously romantic one, had declared it their song after finding the old record in Danny’s collection when she’d gone back to his place after their second date and made him play it six times in a row. She always played it while he did the dishes and she watched him or when they made an attempt at being tender and sweet.

She bit her lip and he felt a surge of jealously. He was tired and sore, but not that tired and sore.

“Aid, c’mon, lemme in.”

“Uh, look, Danny-o, there’s something we gotta talk ‘bout. Well, actually…something I gotta talk to you ‘bout.”

Danny’s forehead scrunched up and he narrowed his eyes at her, finally really clicking into the fact that she was pretty much barricading him out of his own apartment and saying some things that he’d always hoped he never hear from her. She’d called him ‘Danny-o’, something she only did when they were goofing around or he was really upset about something, but it seemed oddly forced all of a sudden.

“What’s goin’ on?” He asked slowly, his voice hardening.

She grimaced and pulled his arm. “C’mon, inside.”

Danny obeyed, closing and locking the door behind him then kicking off his shoes and hanging up his jacket before crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

Aiden rolled her eyes at him and sat on the couch. “I think you should take a seat, Messer.”

He hesitated, then heaved a sigh and crossed the spacious living room. (He didn’t have much furniture or stuff, and it sure wasn’t a brownstone, but he had plenty of space.) Danny sat, but made sure there was at least a foot-wide gap between them and wouldn’t meet her eye.

“Tell me what’s goin’ on, Aiden.” He said, hoping he sounded firm, but thinking he sounded shaky instead.

“Okay,” she said nervously, grabbing his hand. It was warm and strong around his own, and he couldn’t help letting her despite his growing apprehension. “Here’s the thing. Somethin’ happened today and I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but I know how you might feel ‘bout this…level of commitment and responsibility. So, I totally understand if…if you wanna take it back…” She trailed off, then said softly, “Please, Danny, it would help so much if you’d look me in the eye.”

Danny did, and felt his gut wrench even more than it already was at the worry written all over her face. He had no idea what she was talking about…okay, he had a pretty good idea, but he sure as hell had no idea what to say back.

Aiden shook her head slightly and continued. “I know it’s really early in this relationship and we’re still adjusting to living together…But it just happened. It just happens, Danny.” Her voice was stronger now, almost defiant. “And I want…I want you to be okay with it, I really do, because as soon as it became real to me, I realized how much I wanted it. But you gotta know that I will completely understand if you’re not ready. At this point…we can still back out.”

She stopped. After a couple beats, Danny realized he was actually expected to respond in verbally.

“Aiden,” he started, his throat dry. He swallowed and tried again. “Aid, love, please tell me exactly what the hell you’re talkin’ ‘bout. You’re scarin’ me shitless here.”

She let go of his hand and stood slowly. “I guess it’d be easier to show you, huhn?” She sounded like she was mostly talking to herself, so Danny didn’t answer. “Right. Okay, stay there.”

Aiden turned and disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door shut behind her.

Oh holy shit, Danny thought to himself, frozen in place on the couch, shit-shit-shit-shit-shit-shit-shit. He thought briefly of bolting while he could and running to Flack or the Doc for help, but shoved the idea aside quickly and with disgust. It was cowardly and Danny Messer was no coward. On the other hand, he didn’t think he’d be much of a father either, if Aiden was trying to tell him what he thought she was trying to tell him. But he loved her. And he wouldn’t – couldn’t – hurt her like that.

After what seemed like an eternity but was probably only thirty-five seconds, she called out through the door, “Okay. You can’t freak out too much, okay, Messer?”

“…Sure.” He answered weakly. If she came back with a pregnancy test…he was making no promises.

Aiden seemed to pause, then pushed the bathroom door open. His CSI eyes darted meticulously to her empty hands then up and down her body, then finally to her face. Nothing was new or different about her then half a minute before.

“What’s– Fuck!” Danny yelped and jerked back as a blur of fur came skittering across the floor and leapt onto his lap. Or tried to. It stumbled and misjudged the distance, and ended up ramming itself into Danny’s shins. It yipped and pawed pathetically at his jeans.

Aiden darted forward and scooped the wriggling puppy into her arms and sat next to her now very confused and surprised boyfriend.

“You were supposed to catch him, Danny-o.” She chastised gently, rubbing the puppy’s floppy ears and grinning at Danny sheepishly.

“A dog. Aid…you got a dog?” He asked, sure his heart was running double-time.

“He’s a black lab puppy, only two months old. Ain’t he cute?” She asked, lifting the little guy so Danny was eye to eye with it. Automatically, he reached out and let the puppy lick his hand, then scratched it under the chin, making it whine in ecstasy.

Grinning despite himself, and the shock he’d just received, Danny said, “Yeah, he is.”

“So…Can we keep him? Please? You know how much I love dogs. And this guy’s so sweet and cuddly. ” Aiden pleaded, hugging said animal to her chest and pouting.

Danny pulled a face. “I hate it when you pout. It’s cheap.”

She threw in her Bambi eyes for good measure. “Is it workin’?”

“We’re never around, Aid. It wouldn’t be fair.” He tried, knowing it was fruitless. Aiden Burn could get him to do anything with a few good punches to the shoulder, a pout, and some sweet-talk.

“We both work days, but I’m pretty much on a set, nine-to-five schedule, so I can mostly walk and play with him. And my brother, Charlie, already agreed to watch him when we’re both out for more than a few hours. He’s the one who works from home, just in the next neighbourhood, so it’ll be okay. Either of us could pick him up on the way home from work or wherever and our guy won’t be lonely.”

“This is a live animal, Aid. It needs to be walked and fed regularly. Not to mention it’ll bark and teeth and piss on the floor and eat your shoes.”

“Since when are you the one who's thinkin' ahead? Besides, that’s what obedience school is for. Which I’m already signed up for. And I bought him chew toys this afternoon. And kibble. And the owner said the litter was bred not to bark too much, so we won’t have to worry ‘bout neighbours-”

“You already got all the angles, don’t you?”

“Yep. C’mon, Danny-o. He loves us already and I love him and I love you and you love me…There’s a whole lotta love goin’ on and we can’t bust that up, now can we?”

Danny blinked and felt his face flush. “I never said I loved you.”

Aiden grinned evilly and shrugged. “I’m an ex-CSI, Messer. I can read people, and you, my snarky lover, are an open book to me. Now. Puppy?”

He hesitated, and then sighed, feeling really drained and exhausted now. “Fuck’s sake…What’s his name?”

Relief made Aiden drop the puppy onto Danny’s lap and fall back against the couch, grinning madly. He caught it and instinctively cradled it to his chest. The little guy was warm and clumsy and had fur like thick velvet. It pressed it’s cold wet nose under Danny’s chin, making him wince but half-grin too.

Giggling, Aiden leaned forward and kissed Danny tenderly on the mouth, brushing her thumbs over his cheekbones. He had to concentrate on not dropping the puppy, passing out from stress and exhaustion or strangling the girl he loved.

She kissed him again, this time letting it linger, then pulled back a few inches and said, “Thank you. I promise it’ll be good. And that you’ll be well compensated.”

Danny nodded. “Yeah, I better. Or else the pooch here is gettin’ dropped off at the nearest Chinese food joint rather then Charlie’s. Now. Name?”

“Well, he’s goofy and maybe not too bright, so I was thinkin’ ‘Flack’, especially with the black hair, but then I realized we’d have two of ‘em runnin’ around here, stealin’ our food and hogging the couch, so I reconsidered.”

“Excellent call.”

“So, I’ve decided he shall hence forth be known as ‘Hank’.” Aiden said proudly.

“Hank.” Danny repeated dumbly.

“Yep. Hank.”

“…Hank.”

“Yes! Jeez, is there an echo in here? Hank!”

“But…why?”

She smirked and kissed him again chastely. “Why not.”

“Okay. Hank, it is.” Danny muttered, looking down and seeing that ‘Hank’ had fallen asleep in his arms. It was pretty damn cute, even he had to admit.

“Hey, Danny?”

He lifted his gaze back up, frowning at her again sombre tone. “Yeah?”

“Did you think I was tryna tell you I was pregnant? I’m so sorry if you did, I was tryna get you ready for Hank and fumbled.”

“…Yeah, that’s what I thought. You aren’t, are you? I mean, that’d be okay, that’d be good, but…”

Aiden shook her head quickly. “Not yet. I’m…not yet.”

“Not yet.” He agreed quietly, carding that little conversation tidbit away for the future. Not the near future, but definitely the future. That involved Aiden.

They were silent for a few minutes, just stroking Hank with their heads down, each mentally catching their breaths after the stress and relief that followed.

“Hey, Aid.”

“Hey, what, babe.”

“…Okay, so maybe I do love you.”

He expected her to make a teasing remark or cuff his shoulder, but she didn’t. Instead, she was still for a moment, then slid an arm around his shoulder and pulled him close, pressing a kiss against his neck.

“I love you, too. Know that, okay?”

Danny caught her chin in his hand and kissed her deeply, mindful not to crush Hank as he pulled her even closer.

Breaking the embrace, he said, “So about this ‘owing me’ business…”

Aiden smirked. “You put Hank in his kennel. It’s in the kitchen. I’ll go jump in the shower.”

Danny scowled. “You were totally banking on me sayin’ ‘yes’, weren’t you?”

“An open book, Messer.” She repeated, getting up and strolling off to the bathroom. She even threw in a little hip sway from him.

Danny gently settled Hank in his new kennel and paused to study the sleeping puppy for a minute. It was fast, this was fast, getting a dog together. But it was…nice. He hadn’t had a dog since he was about ten and did indeed know Aiden loved them. And Hank did seem like a good little guy, dumb name or not, so it was okay. Better than okay. It was really good.

Stripping as he went and thinking about how much better his sore muscles would soon be feeling, Danny headed to the bathroom, where the water was already hot and running and his girlfriend was naked and waiting. It was so nice.