Chapter Text
Dani laid on the examination table feeling the strangest sense of deja-vu. Every time she’d ever been here, her husband sat on the now empty chair beside her, holding her hand. Honestly, coming here probably wasn’t necessary but she had to put her mind at ease.
She’d been feeling really tired lately. She was usually tired with the way they worked, then coming home to chase after her love bugs–mini Malcolms who kept her on her toes constantly.
As tired as she was, she was also getting headaches which she never got and nausea. Spending as much time around corpses as she did, Dani was used to unpleasant smells but the other day, the smell of Edrisa’s breakfast burrito had almost sent her over the edge–supreme irritation and the urge to vomit had nearly gotten the best of her.
Dani knew then that something wasn’t quite right with her and here she was in Dr. Wallace’s office, the same man who’d delivered both Zahra and Asa. She hadn’t told her husband that she was going to the doctor’s because she didn’t want him to worry.
She didn’t know exactly what was wrong with her but she needed to cross this one thing off the list first before talking to Malcolm as she was pretty sure she was just exhausted.
Dani slowly lifted her eyes to the ultrasound monitor expecting to see her suspicions confirmed–only they weren’t.
As the doctor moved the transducer over her flat stomach, a slow realization set in that her body had an occupant once again.
Goddamnit Bright, Dani groaned internally. The spa room. On the one night that she’d gotten a chance to relax and take some time to herself, Malcolm had finagled his way inside–quite literally–and left her with a baby. She wanted to kill him.
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Dani remembered when Zahra and Asa had spent the day with them at the precinct as they’d missed drop off time again and the two had begged her and Malcolm to go home with Grandpa, which they never minded if Grandpa wanted them. Gil absolutely loving any chance to spend extra time with his Baby Brights obliged.
She’d made her way to the spa room, this incredibly fancy bathroom Malcolm had designed with the sole purpose of her being able to relax as she so rarely did outside of her bimonthly pedicures, despite him always pushing her to take some time for herself.
Jessica and Ainsley had invited her on their spa days but she’d politely declined as a deep tissue massage would not relax her. Anyone touching her body like that other than her husband would get punched in the face and Malcolm having been on the receiving end of one of her punches in the past had gently told his mother and sister not to force the issue.
That said, when Malcolm had designed their home, he’d decided to bring the spa to her. A room that appeared to be outside without actually being outside due to all of the greenery inside of it–giving it a distinctly botanical feel. As beautiful as the room was, Dani had been more than a little weirded out that she’d be disrobing somewhere with floor to ceiling windows.
“The house sits on two acres. No one’s gonna see you–except me, of course,” Malcolm grinned cheekily.
“That is if I let you.” Dani responded with narrowed eyes as her husband had said the quiet part out loud. He planned to get just as much enjoyment out of this room as she did. It hadn’t escaped her notice that the little heated tile and rock path that led to an elaborate shower set up and the massive tub behind it was more than big enough for two.
She honestly should’ve known better, but it hadn’t occurred to her as she’d stripped out of her leather leggings and the sheer black top that she’d worn to the cute winery in nearby Washingtonville that was apparently the oldest in the country after Malcolm had suggested they take full advantage of a night to themselves.
Dani had been thrilled at the idea of a date with her husband that wasn’t one of the stuffy charity events Jessica frequently strong-armed them into attending and the possibility of relaxing after.
Crushing a Lush Bubble Bar underneath the faucet, Dani inhaled deeply, enjoying the sweet and spicy scent of sandalwood, fresh pear and clove that filled the room. She slipped into the tub, sighing as the frothy, fragrant bubbles came up to her shoulders.
As much as Dani adored her love bugs to the moon and back, it was nice to be able to spend time on herself without wondering just what kind of mayhem was happening just outside the door.
She tipped her head back, resting it against the edge of the tub sighing contentedly–that is until she heard clothes hitting the floor.
Of course.
She didn’t even get a chance to put on her favorite anti-aging sheet mask–a must with two babies and a thirty something who tended to act like one–and cucumber under eye patches all because Daddy had decided that he wanted fun time too.
“Bright, what are you doing?” Dani asked, already knowing the answer but waiting for whatever half-baked explanation he’d give her.
As Dani had found out the hard way, her husband was insanely good at sneaking in and out of places and she should’ve known a closed door wouldn’t stop him.
“What do you mean? I’ve had a long day too.” Malcolm replied innocently as she felt him settle in the tub.
Dani’s lips flattened into a tight line. Nothing spa-related would ever relax her husband but business sure would. She knew what he was here for.
Dani slowly opened her eyes, only to see Malcolm’s shit-eating grin across from her. A smile that always let her know when he was up to no good. “Bright, I wanna relax.”
“I can help with that.” Malcolm smirked as he attempted to come closer before she stopped him. Her foot pressed against his well-defined chest. Her black painted toenails stark against his pale skin.
Reaching to her left to the towel shelf, Dani passed him the little container of her favorite body scrub. “Take care of me, for a change.”
Dani knew that might have been the wrong choice of words as she took in the roguish glint in her husband’s nearly translucent eyes, especially as she watched him run his fingers along her calf before softly kissing the ball of her foot.
Malcolm leaned forward as he gently turned her around, bringing her closer to him. The vanilla and bergamot scent of the scrub should’ve calmed her–it usually did but the feeling of Malcolm’s palms and the gentle friction of the Himalayan salt crystals beneath them against her back was doing anything but.
“Bright, what are you doing?” Dani looked over her shoulder at him suspiciously. She was being set up, she knew it.
Malcolm didn’t answer as he intently moved his hands up and down her back, up and over her arms and shoulders. Thinking her husband really had done what she asked, Dani slowly eased into him as she felt him bring the warm water over her, washing away the salts.
“I think it worked,” Malcolm murmured against her wet skin, appreciating his handiwork and the smoothness he’d left behind as his lips pressed to that space in between her shoulder blades. His palms flat against her lower back, gliding along her waist, her hips. His fingers kneading–pressing. “What do you think?”
Coherent thoughts weren’t really coming to her mind at that moment as her husband trailed kisses along her shoulders and up her neck, each open mouthed and lingering longer than the last. A shiver running through her at the feeling of his stubble scraping against her.
Dani wondered just how he’d managed to do this so easily, especially as one hand gently reached over her shoulder, bringing her face closer to his as he kissed her slowly and imploringly, taking the air she breathed into his lungs.
As easily finessed as Malcolm was, Dani was beginning to wonder if he wasn’t the only one, especially as she looked up at him, her eyes half lidded as she watched him pull back ever so slightly, playfully dragging her lip between his teeth before kissing her again.
“Bright,” Dani hated how insistent her voice sounded as she slowly turned around to face him fully giving him exactly what he came here for as her forehead pressed against his, the temperature in the room seeming to rise all at once. She wasn’t much for teasing–that was what he liked–when she wanted something, she wanted it. Her husband wrapped his arms around her, bringing them chest to chest. His prize unlocked and Dani tasted Malcolm’s soft laughter as he knew.
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“Okay, so I don’t wanna sound foolish but when you deliver this baby, is there any way you can take the baby making parts too while you’re at it?” Dani asked, her mind leaving the spa room and refocusing on the ultrasound.
The kindly gray haired doctor chuckled. “We can do that. It’ll be a different process than with your previous two children as this one will have to be delivered by cesarian section. The recovery time will be longer and of course, you’ll likely experience stronger hormonal changes but I can assure you, you’ll be in the best of hands. My staff and I will do absolutely everything we can to make this as smooth as possible.”
Dani nodded a little woodenly. Her life–one that had finally reached an equilibrium–had just turned upside down again.
She glanced down at her left hand. The vintage emerald and diamond ring that Malcolm had surprised her with about a month ago, taking the place of her engagement ring with its now double-digit carat count that was far too extravagant for every day, catching her attention. “…with this ring that has been in my family for well over a century, I want to show you–all of you–how committed I am to the choice I made to receive love and compassion from the only person who has ever given it to me.”
Malcolm had gotten down on one knee to “propose” again at the orchard near the Catskills that they’d taken the kids to for apple picking. The ring he’d given her was absolutely beautiful and Dani loved how it symbolized a commitment to continually strengthen the bond they’d formed over five years ago but as she looked up at the monitor, it appeared that they’d already been doing that.
There was nothing that symbolized the love that existed between the two of them more than their children. As shocked as she was, Dani couldn’t help but think that the addition of their third one–their last one–epitomized a recommitment to each other.
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Pulling up to the precinct, Malcolm didn’t see her matte black Range Rover. Dani always got to work before him as he usually took the kids to daycare. Waze hadn’t alerted him of any unusual traffic situations or accidents and Dani was never late to work not when they left the house together.
Hopping out of his gunmetal Bentley Continental, Malcolm gathered his work bag before calling his wife. He went straight to voicemail.
Malcolm could feel the dread inching up his spine. Something was wrong. Dani didn’t keep things from him. Malcolm remembered what it felt like to be deceived and lied to and Dani would never and had never done that to him but Malcolm still couldn’t help but wonder if the other shoe was finally about to drop–if the sun he'd been living in was finally going down, banishing him back into the darkness he’d lived in before her.
We’ll talk when I get to work, babe, Dani’s text read right as he was entering the precinct. At least, he knew she was safe but the fact that they had to talk made him incredibly anxious. He hadn’t noticed anything different about his wife. She’d kissed him good morning as she always did right as she woke up before getting the kids up.
Her behavior was the same, Dani was happy as he could always tell she wasn’t so Malcolm was almost sure he hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Wesley and Amina Price were found dead in their Upper West Side penthouse this morning. COD is still to be determined,” Gil said, completely no-nonsense, pushing the case file into Malcolm’s hands before he’d even stepped foot into the conference room.
His boss gave him a ton of leeway but the one thing Gil did ask is that the moment he walked through the doors of the precinct, he became Bright and Dani became Powell again–the partners who were the best at what they did–not the couple who tended to appear in the society pages. Meaning, home stayed at home.
Malcolm would try to focus on this murder and not every single worst case scenario filling his mind about his wife and his marriage.
“I’m gonna need you to go down to the crime lab, scope ‘em out in person and maybe try to tell us what we’re looking for.”
“I’m on it,” Malcolm mumbled, looking at the CSU photos knowing he wouldn’t have an answer for what had befallen their victims until he saw them in person.
Gil nodded as he sipped his coffee. “JT and I are going talk to their daughter, Christine, to get more info. Brief Powell when she gets here, she had something to do this morning but obviously you knew that.”
Malcolm actually didn’t and he tried not to let it show.
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Walking out of the precinct, Malcolm saw Dani pulling in, parking right in front of the Bentley like always. He watched Dani slip her badge and holstered gun on her hip before grabbing her purse out of the back seat.
In her gray v-neck, high waisted black jeans, leather jacket and combat boots she looked like the Detective Powell he’d always known. Everything seemed normal but Malcolm couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t.
“Dani! What’s going on? Is everything okay?” She looked up to see her husband rushing towards her, concern and anxiety evident in his pale eyes.
This was why she hadn’t told Malcolm about how she’d been feeling lately or that she was going to the doctor. Dani knew that any deviation from their normal, he’d automatically assume the worst. She understood why as she’d known him long enough to know that the worst had already happened to him–many times.
Dani sighed internally. She was pretty sure that being a little over an hour late to work, Malcolm had probably assumed she was somewhere getting divorce papers drafted up. “Yeah, babe. I’m okay…I’m pregnant but okay.”
Malcolm heaved a sigh of relief as he squeezed her shoulders. “That’s good, I was so worried.” Dani counted the seconds before it took the Big Brain to process the rest of her statement. 3…2… “Wait, what?”
Malcolm’s eyes widened as his heart started to beat in double time. He didn’t just hear what he thought he did. Dani nodded, a little smile pulling at the edge of her rose painted lips.
“How?” Dani just stared at him, her eyes narrowing. On second thought, Malcolm was pretty clear on the how. He remembered the night he had interrupted her plans to relax. “…The spa room. Okay, yeah that was on me but are you sure?”
“I was at the doctor this morning…five weeks along.” Dani finished, looking up at her husband who still looked like a particularly strong wind could knock him down.
“This is…happening…again.” Malcolm whispered, shock still etched on his face.
Dani laughed a bit, smiling as she nodded once more. “It definitely is.” She reached inside of her oversized black Celine bag, producing an ultrasound photo–the very first of what would be many–handing it to him.
Her heart swelled with the love that never failed to steal her breath away growing even more as Malcolm took the photo from her, their fingertips brushing as he smiled her favorite smile. The one that made his eyes crinkle cutely in the corners–that same smile he’d passed on to their son.
Malcolm looked back up at her. Happiness and wonder shining through those ice clear eyes of his as they began to well. Putting the ultrasound photo in his bag for safekeeping, he placed his palms flat against Dani’s stomach, hoping their new little one could feel how excited Daddy was to meet him or her already. “I love you–both of you–so much,” he kissed his wife’s forehead.
“We love you too,” Dani smiled up at him, suddenly coming to the realization that their beautiful vow renewal trip wouldn’t be happening for quite some time. “So...I guess this means Bali has been postponed.”
Malcolm laughed, a shaky but undeniably joyful sound. “Yeah…but I honestly can’t think of a better reason why.”
Hearing him say such a thing did more for her than he knew because she remembered the very first time she’d broken this type of news to him. She was so worried about how he’d react, if it would send him down a spiral she wouldn't be able to get him out of.
Martin had warped her husband’s conception of what it meant to be a father and despite how gentle and loving Malcolm was–the things she saw everyday–he didn’t think about that. He instead thought about the person who took antipsychotics and benzodiazepines. The person with night terrors and wrist restraints. Someone he believed couldn’t be trusted to raise a child.
But he’d surprised her then by immediately dropping to his knees, kissing her stomach and introducing himself to Zahra–his sweetheart–for the first time. So much had changed for them since then but one thing remained the same, Malcolm always had room in his heart for one more.
Even before they’d gotten together in the midst of problems that had looked impossible to solve, Dani knew Malcolm had more to give. Yes, there had been lies, mixed signals and inconsistencies but there were also times when he’d chosen to show her more.
She’d taken a leap of faith in believing that Malcolm wasn’t the person he’d shown her then–that he was the person who held her hand and reassured her as she fell apart and not the man who’d eroded her trust as he went running to someone who could never give him what he needed.
Every day, Dani was glad she did because every day, she woke up next to the person she always knew he could be.
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Malcolm stared up at the white board. The official cause of death for their two victims was still unknown even as he’d visited the crime lab to diagnose the situation in person. Upon further inspection, he noticed two small puncture wounds on the back of both of their necks. They were still waiting for the tox screen, but he had a feeling this case was about to get weird. It was a good thing weird was what he did best.
The more he stared, the more his mind drifted to something he’d rather not think about. He remembered awhile ago, destroying this very same whiteboard only he’d been staring at CSU photos of his ex-girlfriend.
Dani had been there. She’d been trying to comfort him in that soft, soothing way of hers. She’d been trying to tell him that him being able to find the person who’d done it mattered. She’d been trying to help but something about that enraged him.
The only person who’d shown him any sort of physical affection was just murdered and he didn’t want what seemed like pity from the person whose physical affection he would’ve died to have. He didn’t want the sweetness and care he believed Dani would’ve showed to anyone who needed it because she was just that kind–that good. He’d wanted more from her but he had no idea how to get it.
His anger, grief and frustration coalesced into something childish and probably scary. His back had been turned to her but he knew what he did. He knew how Dani had reacted–how she flinched–and out of all of the terrible mistakes he’d made with her, that was the one that stayed with him even now. The one he would never stop trying to make up for.
Malcolm thought about then and he thought about now, especially as he heard Dani’s soft footsteps come up behind him just as they did then. The difference was that instead of misguidedly grieving for someone who’d done nothing but hurt him, he was turning to face the woman who was carrying his third child.
He didn’t deserve Dani–he never would but every day he vowed to get a little closer.
Shaking his head as if to physically clear away the rumination rabbit hole he’d just gone down, Malcolm looked at Dani. “I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out.”
Dani gave him a funny look before looking at the board. “We got the case this morning, you’ll figure it out. You always do.”
“No, not about the case.” Malcolm waved a hand dismissively. “About you. How did I not suspect anything, I mean this has happened twice before…”
“Well for starters, I wasn’t projectile vomiting or laying on the bathroom floor wishing for death.”
“True but this morning I watched you eat mango with Tajin seasoning instead of Avocado toast…how did I not see it? I mean, I’m a profiler for God sake. You think I’m losing my touch?” Malcolm asked, genuinely mulling it over.
“No, honey bun, I think your touch is just fine,” Dani smirked as Malcolm scrunched his nose at her before wrapping her up from behind, his hands resting her her stomach.
“Sorry for knocking you up again,” Malcolm murmured into her hair. Dani rolled her eyes as she could hear the smile in his voice. He wasn’t sorry at all.
Gil cleared his throat, crossing his arms from the doorway. They were about to have a meeting where Bright presented his profile or however much of it he had but instead he was doing this.
Bright knew the rules but young man Gil had all but raised did all he could to test the limits of rules–some of them actually laws. Gil wasn’t surprised to see Bright breaking his no PDA rule especially since Bright broke it every day, completely unable to keep his hands or lips to himself whenever his wife–Gil’s lead detective–came within three feet of him.
“Can’t you let it slide just this once?” Bright asked smirking, but making no attempt to let Powell take her customary seat atop the conference room table as he rested his chin in the crook of her neck.
Gil’s eyes slid to Bright’s hands which were resting on his wife’s stomach and not inappropriately on her hips as they usually were. It didn’t take a detective as seasoned as Gil to figure out what was happening or what would happen in approximately nine months time as he’d seen this very thing twice before with them.
“I think Grandpa can do that.” Gil said with a grin.