And the coffee helped everything.

She ate the eggs, which settled fine. In fact they woke up her appetite. "Now I'm starving."

He turned to her, caught her face in his hand, kissed her. Long, soft, deep.

"Well, that's not what I was hungry for. But now that you mention it, I think I'm up to it."

"We'll give those bruises a little longer to heal." But he kept her face framed in his hands, kissed her again. "I'm just glad to see you."

"Where did I go?"

"Darling Eve, you had grief behind your eyes. So much grief and fatigue. It's gone now."

"I just needed sleep. And you. And the cat." She let out a long breath. "And this."

Now he pressed his lips to her forehead. "There's one more thing you might want. Come with me."

"I was thinking I want pancakes."

"We can get to that." He pulled her to the elevator and in. Programmed the destination manually.

"A swim would be good," she considered. "Might help work out the stiffness."

When the doors opened she was, for the second time that morning, disoriented. "How many rooms do you..."

She trailed off as her gaze arrowed in on the wide U, studded with controls, the sleek leather chair in its curve.

"Command center. Holy shit, holy shit!"

It was, sort of, like walking into the design he'd shown her only days before. The walls painted that quiet, easy color that wasn't exactly green, wasn't exactly gray. And the absolute magnificence of her new workstation, an entire wall of screens.

"Did I sleep for a week?"

"You've been out of the office, so to speak, for a few days. And the crew took advantage. Double shifts. There are still some details, some work, but it's up and running."

"That?" She pointed at the big, wide U of deep maybe commanding brown with its flecks and veins of dark green and that not-quite-green base for an array of controls. "That's up and running?"

"I figured that would be your priority. Test it out."

She beelined for it, absolutely delighting him. Ran a hand over the stone, studied the controls. "How do I..." She laid her hand on a palm screen.

It hummed, but did nothing.

"You haven't told it what to do, have you?" Amused, Roarke joined her.

"Like... Open operations?"

The command center came to life, controls flashing on, glinting like jewels the sort of jewels she appreciated most.

Operations open, Dallas, Lieutenant Eve.

"Holy shit," she said again. "Just like that."

"I had a bit of time this morning. It'll take a bit more to transfer everything to your comfort zone, but yes, just like that."

"Okay, open file, Mackie, Willow."

Accessing. Where would you like the data displayed?

"Wall screen."

As she hadn't designated one section, the entire wall filled with data.

"Wow. Ah, display final report by Peabody, Detective Delia. She finished it," Eve noted when it flashed on. "She wrote it up, filed it. Done."

Roarke kissed the top of her head. "Done."

"Wait." She dropped into the chair, a chair of rich forest-green leather, said, "Ahh." Swiveled. "Oh, this is it. Seriously it. The redhead with the tits and the boots knows her stuff. I could play with this all day. I'll need to play with this all day to get up to speed. What else can it -"

"Everything you need. But you might want to take a glance, at least, at the rest."

She swiveled again, surveyed the room.

The seating area worried her a little. It looked entirely too comfortable with its long, low sofa in forest-shadows green. But not fancy or frilly, even with a couple of pillows tossed on it. A new sleep chair, which Galahad had claimed already.

She rose, wandered, found her board she only had to roll it out of the slot in the wall.

A kitchen area, updated big-time shiny, yes, but simple.

And simple again, an arrangement of floating shelves probably real wood, she mused holding some of her useless but prized things.

The stuffed Galahad Roarke had given her, the statue of the goddess was a gift from Peabody's mother, a sheriff's badge, a fancy magnifying glass, a photograph of her and Roarke taken when they'd been banged up some after an arrest, and smiling at each other.

He'd added art or the designer had which hadn't been run by her. But... how could she argue with the framed cityscapes? Her city.

Their city.

She frowned at the thick green plastic boards over what was obviously a wide hole in the side of the room. "What happened there?"

"It's more what's happening. As I said, there are details yet. This is something extra. When it's done, the dining area goes in front of what will be glass. You open the glass and you'll be able to step out onto a small terrace. I thought you'd enjoy that. We'd enjoy eating here with the glass open in fine weather."

We, she thought. He'd designed the old office for her.

This one was for them.

"You were right, and not just because it looks really good. You were right because it's my space, sure, but it's for both of us. You were right, it was time."

"Remember you said that when we start on the bedroom."

"Not going to think about that. This is much too frosty. Now I need to start playing with my command center."

"I'll give you some pointers, then leave you to it for a couple hours. That's about what we have before we need to leave for Bella's party."

"The what?" Already halfway across the room, she stopped, turned on her heel. "Oh, but... Look, don't you think we could skip that? I mean, bruised up, tired out, saved New York? She's not going to notice or care if we're around. She's one."

"I know as little as you about the mind of a one-year-old. But I know Mavis."

"Crap, crap, crap. We have to go." Shoving at her hair, Eve sent the command center a look of longing. "Okay. So we go for, say, an hour, ninety minutes tops, then we come back. Take that swim. We can have pool sex."

"That sounds like a bribe." Considering, amusement clear, he nodded. "I'm very susceptible to the right kind of bribe. I believe we have a deal."

"Solid." She headed straight back to command.

She got her two hours, found it exhilarating and amazing. The comp was so quick, it all but anticipated her commands, the screen images so clear she almost felt she could walk into them.

The holo functions would take her a while to get a steady handle on, but even now she could see using them to put herself back into a crime scene, or bring a wit, a consultant, a potential suspect right into her space.

In all her wildest dreams, she could never have imagined having so much tech right at her fingertips. Even though it meant actually dealing with tech.

But the best, the abso-ult, as Mavis would say, was discovering the mini unit that allowed her to program coffee right at her command center.

That little bonus had her doing a mental happy dance even as they left for Bella's party.

"It's going to be really exceptional pool sex."

Roarke slid behind the wheel. "Is it now?"

She yanked him to her, gave him a hard kiss. "Better stick to the shallow end, because we could drown. And even then."

"Life's full of risks. And we are the brave."

"An hour, ninety minutes tops, right?"

"For pool sex?"

Laughing, she punched his shoulder.

She decided a Sunday afternoon drive downtown didn't completely suck. Closed case, long sleep, hot food and a command center. Life could be a lot worse.

Maybe it would be the first first birthday party she'd ever attended, but how bad could it be?

Better not think about it.

"You're sure the present deal got there?" she asked as he maneuvered into a parking place.

"I am."

"I just don't want to screw up, be those people who forgot the present for the kid."

"Delivered yesterday, and stowed away by Leonardo."

"Okay. I bet there are going to be others there."

"I certainly hope so."

"No, I mean others. The others who crawl or walk like drunks with their hands waving, or zip around like Bella."

"Ah, as in children. I'm sure you're right."

"Why do they stare? They're always staring. Like dolls," she said as they walked into the building. "Or sharks."

"I have no idea, but now I'll likely worry about it."

"Join the club."

She took the stairs as she had countless times before Roarke, to the apartment that had once been hers. To the apartment, she thought, that, like her home office, no longer remotely resembled what had been hers.

She was a lot more than okay with that.

"Start the clock," she told Roarke, and knocked.

The door swung open into noise, into color, into movement.

Balloons, streamers, flying... unicorns, fairies, and a rainbow-colored dragon.

All this lived behind the nearly seven-foot black man in a black vest over a red skin shirt. He grinned widely.

"Hey there, skinny white girl."

"Hey back, large black man."

She accepted the hug that had her eyeballing the long red feather that curled down from his earlobe.

How many first birthday parties had the owner/bouncer of a sex club on the guest list?

Then again, Mavis.

"Hey, Roarke."

"Crack. Good to see you."

"Cak, Cak, Cak," came the call from behind him.

He turned, caught Bella on the fly. And the birthday girl, the pretty little golden-haired sprite in a frothy, sparkly pink dress and sparkly shoes that flashed with lights, nestled in the arms bulging with biceps and tattoos.

She whispered something in his ear that made him throw back his head and laugh.

When he turned around, Bella's eyes widened with delight. "Das! Ork!"