A/N: This takes place in S5, just before Christmas.

"Eames, this is the fourth toy store we've toured today. I know New York has everything but you do realize we're going to run out of toy stores."

"No one said you had to come along," she said reasonably.

"True, but I didn't expect to conduct a search of every toy store in the city."

"Stop complaining and keep looking."

"You never did tell me how I'm going to know if I find it."

"You won't. I will. Go and look over there."

He spotted the overflowing shelves of stuffed animals at which she waved her hand and walked over to them, methodically examining each one for the type of animal she sought. He held one up. "Eames?"

She looked up. "No."

He continued the search. "What about this one?"

"Nope. Keep looking."

He picked up a medium-sized black and white skunk and turned it over in his hands. "I kind of like this one."

"That's not even the right animal, Bobby."

"I realize that, but I like it. I think he will, too."

She shuffled through another shelf. "Fine, then you get it for him. I know the right one is here someplace. It has to be."

He bought the little skunk to give her nephew for Christmas and followed her to three more toy stores before he pointed out that they had not had lunch yet and it was now approaching dinnertime. "Come on, Eames. Let's get some dinner. I'll buy."

"Let's just look in one more store. There's a nice one downtown, off Fifth Avenue."

"Downtown? We were already downtown."

"I forgot about this store." She stepped closer to him and turned her head to the side with a smile. "Please. For the baby."

He sighed and gave in. After all, it was for her nephew. "All right," he conceded.

The only difference he found in the toy store she led him to was the selection of stuffed animals. It was huge. He groaned. They were going to be there for the rest of the night. She motioned toward one side of the room that was called "Safari Place" and said, "You start over there."

He crossed the room and set about the seemingly insurmountable task before him. "What about this one, Eames?"

He was encouraged when she hesitated this time before rejecting it. "Not quite, but we're getting there."

He tossed the animal back on the shelf and pointed his finger at her. "I knew better. Remember that pair of shoes you wanted six months ago? That was another all day affair."

"Oh, stop complaining. Are you saying Jake isn't worth the effort?"

His shoulders drooped. "No. Of course not. But he's two. He'll like the bag you bring it home in."

"Look, I need to find just what I'm looking for. This is my nephew. Feel free to go home anytime."

He waved his hand dismissively. "I have all this time invested in the search. I'm not giving up now."

She smiled and buried herself back in the shelves of animals in front of her. He watched her for a moment, then softly laughed and returned to the search

Three more rejections were finally followed by an exclamation of delight and triumph. "I've got it! This is it!"

He tossed the frog he was holding onto the shelf. "Fantastic. Can we go now?"

"Don't you even want to see it?"

He sighed heavily, tired and cranky from being dragged all over creation in search of the sixteen-inch animal she now cradled in her arms. "No thanks. I've seen enough monkeys for one day, thank you very much. Can we go and eat now?"