The early morning sunlight flittered in through the cracks in the curtains and bathed the room in a dim light to show the two inhabitants sleeping on the bed. Daniel with his arm draped over Tessa's waist as she slept with her back to his chest, their surroundings quiet, serene, and comfortable.

Daniel and Tessa had decided to sleep in on this Saturday, but the FBI agent was awoken by the ringing of his phone, waking with a startled jump as Tessa hummed in his arms. Groaning, he pulled away from her and lay on his back, rubbing his eyes to rid himself of the blurriness before picking up the device on the side table. Squinting at the screen, he swiped at it before holding it to his ear.

"Hello?" He called in with a sleep-ridden and husky voice.

"Hey," His mother's voice greeted enthusiastically on the other line. "Were you sleeping?"

"Yes," Daniel hummed as he felt Tessa shift behind him and snuggle into his back. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah," Charlotte assured. "I wanted to let you know that since Melanie is turning 1, we are doing our usual gathering here. And I wanted to ask you if you could come,"

"It's in 2 weeks right?"

"Yeah,"

"I'll have to get back to you on that,"

"Alright," His mother nodded and hung up before Daniel could say anything.

"Funny woman," He muttered and put the phone back on his side table, turning around to hold Tessa before fixing the duvet over the both of them.

"What was she saying?" Tessa snuggled into his chest as he closed his eyes to fall asleep again.

"She was telling me that they're celebrating Mel's 1st in Virginia and was asking if I would come,"

"You should go," She nuzzled into his neck as he hummed. "It's been a while since you all have been together," And just as those words left her lips, her phone rang behind her.

Opening her eyes, she shifted to be on her back and reached for her phone on the table, blinking at the contact name as Daniel looked at her through half-lidded eyes.

"It's your mom," She informed before picking up the call. "Hey," She called into the device, aware of how sleep deprived she sounded.

"Hi, sweetheart," Charlotte's voice greeted on the other line. "Oh, did I wake you from your sleep?"

"No, no," Tessa assured with a soft chuckle, pulling herself closer to Daniel. "It's alright, I was bound to wake up anyways,"

"Alright," The older woman chuckled on the other line. "Listen, we're celebrating Melanie's 1st birthday in 2 weeks – don't worry, it's on the weekend – and we wanted to invite you to the party,"

"I would love to, but-" She began to say and was cut off.

"-Oh, don't worry, Daniel's not coming." And Tessa raised an eyebrow at the words before looking up at the man in question who looked at her with a questioning gaze. "He's too busy anyway,"

"I'll..." Tessa trailed. "I'll be there?"

"Great! Can't wait to see you, dearie!" Charlotte enthused before hanging up.

Tessa slowly removed the device from her ear, looking down at it in confusion before looking up at Daniel.

"What?"

"She's saying that you're not coming,"

"I didn't say that," He spoke in indignation. "I told her that I'll get back to her on that, it no way means that I'm not coming," He grumbled in distaste before pulling away from Tessa and sitting up in bed.

"That woman, honestly," He muttered and grabbed his phone, ready to call her again.

"Don't," Tessa put a hand on the screen. "Don't do that," She shook her head.

"Rather, surprise her, show up to the party and surprise her, she'd love that,"

Daniel looked at her from over his shoulder, silent for a minute before sighing and putting it away. "Fine, fine,"

"Thank you," She grinned and placed a kiss on his cheek.

Both of them had the same thought as they lay back in bed and cuddled under the covers.

"Tessa," Daniel spoke up after a moment of silence as he slowly ran his fingers up and down her back.

"Daniel," She hummed in confirmation and tangled her legs with his.

"None of my family members know we're together," He informed and looked down at her as she looked back at him. "I mean, I never told them. Did you?"

"No," She trailed slowly. "I haven't..."

She watched as a devious grin overcame Daniel's expression as he chuckled under his breath.

"What?" Tessa asked in confusion. "What?" She drawled when he wouldn't answer her.

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun," He cackled and hugged her tightly as she squealed at the suddenness.

"What's going to be so much fun?"

"We both are going to go to Virginia," Daniel stated as he tucked a strand of her black hair behind her ear. "Although you will arrive home a couple of hours before me and everyone is going to go on about 'how Daniel didn't show up for his own niece's first birthday' as if though they don't know me, and then I'll show up." He continued as she nodded.

"And then we act like we aren't dating," He finished as she nodded.

"Wait, what?"

"When we get there, we act like we aren't dating and avoid each other and let the others die with the "tension" in the house,"

"Can't we just tell them we're together?" Tessa whined in indignation as Daniel chuckled at her.

"Where is the fun in that, Bambi?" He cooed and flicked her nose as she narrowed her eyes at him before they brightened with an idea.

"But what if I get the sudden urge to kiss you," She hummed at him and pulled herself up so that her lips hovered over his and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow and smirk. "What would I do then?"

"Resist it,"

"But what if I have to kiss you really, really, really bad," She continued as their noses were touching. "What then?" Her voice lowered down to a whisper as Daniel's eyes never strayed from her lips.

"Then..." He swallowed before looking up to meet her gaze. "Then you secretly pull me out of people's eyes and kiss me,"

"We should have a signal," Tessa murmured as she ran the tip of her nose over his neck as he inhaled sharply at how cold it was compared to his warmth.

"How about scratching your right ear?" Daniel inquired as his fingers threaded into her hair and lifted her head up his neck as she gasped at the sudden sensation oozing down her back, their noses touching as he leaned forward to connect their lips. "It's subtle enough," He murmured and gently pecked her lips as she hummed into the kiss, deepening it by grabbing his face into her hands.

"Oh," She jumped in momentary surprise before looking at Daniel with a smirk. "Someone has come out to play," Tessa purred at him as he groaned at her antics.

"You're positively the worst," He grunted and turned them over so that she lay sprawled beneath him and he hovered over her, the duvet falling down his shoulders and pooling around his waist.

"A positive and negative make a negative. Your statement is void, Casanova" She grinned at him before tilting her head back to allow him to kiss her neck, gasping when he sucked at the junction of her neck and shoulder. A moan escaping her lips at his ministrations as it encouraged him to venture lower. His fingers trailing feather light touches down her sides as she shuddered and his lips kissed a trail down her t-shirt before he finally arrived at the hem and placed open-mouthed kisses the shirt exposed to him; softly nudging the cloth off her stomach with his nose. "Daniel," She moaned and tangled her fingers into his hair as his finger travelled down her thighs which were barely covered by the boy-shorts panties she had on.

"I have a question," She bit her lip as she could feel the heat radiating off her as her legs squirmed as he began to run his lips over the sensitive skin of her thigh. "If we want to kiss, we scratch at our right ear. But what if we want more than that?" Her breathing grew labored as he pushed the shirt up to expose her stomach.

"Rub your neck as if though it's stiff," He spoke against her sides as she gasped out loud when he gently bit her sides. "Discreet enough for you?" Daniel looked up at her from below his lashes as she bit her lips and nodded with a hum.

"Good," He went back to kissing her stomach before hooking his fingers into the waistband of her panties, a deep exhale escaping her as he pulled it down her legs in one swift motion.

"Daniel," She moaned under her breath before jumping and grasping the sheets into her hands as the pleasure coursed through her.

"Is that all?" Daniel asked the day they were leaving for Virginia, looking back at Tessa locking the door.

"Yup, that's all," She nodded and bounded down the stairs as he closed the back of the car and made his way around to the driver's side as Tessa settled in the passenger's seat.

Their 7-hour drive was spent in playing games, belting the lyrics to rock music, racing other cars, sleeping, and lunch breaks.

"So what's the plan?" Tessa asked when they finally arrived in Virginia.

"We're going to go to a mall, from where we can pick out the gifts for Melanie and you leave first on a cab while I'll kill maybe an hour or two looking around before going home myself and "surprising" everyone," He informed her as he stopped at a red light. "Sound good?"

"Sounds good," She mulled over the plan in her mind for a minute before agreeing. Daniel smiled and quickly leaned over to place a kiss on her cheek. "What was that for?" She asked just as the light turned green and he began driving with a goofy grin on his face.

"I love that fact that you're so willing and ready to indulge my whims," He grinned at her as he tore his gaze away from the road for a second before turning back. "This is the kind of support I need in life,"

Tessa blushed at his words before laughing at his antics, pinching his cheek in adoration as he pulled a face at her behavior before trying to bite her finger as she gasped in mock shock.

They didn't spend long in trying to find gifts for a 1-year-old baby girl, given that the shops were stocked with possible options, and Tessa was done within the first 20 minutes of their arrival. Daniel called a cab for her as she settled down and he explained the address to the driver before he gave her a quick peck, telling her he would see her soon and that she message him when she arrives.

She did as was asked and messaged him the moment they pulled up at the door, and she paid the fare before stepping with her overnight bag in hand.

Making her way up the porch, she was just about to knock on the door before it flew open and the entire Robertson family stood dressed with party hats on their heads and smiles on their faces, a chorus of "Tessa!" ringing out as she laughed at them and welcomed their enthusiastic group hug.

"Hey!" She laughed along with their enthusiasm, shrieking with a laugh when Tony lifted her off her feet and spun her around before putting her down so she could greet everyone else.

Slowly the guests began to trickle in as Tessa greeted them with welcome smiles and a glass of orange juice in her hands, constantly looking down at her watch and then at the door as she waited for Daniel to arrive, her head constantly shooting up when the doorbell would ring.

All the guests had officially arrived and the people were busy talking with each other and laughing while the children played with each other and the dogs before finally the doorbell rang again as Tessa saw the 'arrived' message from Daniel displayed on her screen. A broad grin made its way on her lips as she watched Anthony go to the door and pull it open. Coming face to face with the youngest brother standing before him with a wide grin and black dress pants paired with a black button up who's sleeves he had rolled back to his elbow and left the first two buttons open, smirking at the awestruck expression on his eldest brother's face.

"I hope you didn't think I'd possibly miss my niece's first birthday, now did you?" He smirked as he picked up the leather duffel at his feet.

"Danny!" Lucas exclaimed behind Anthony when he saw who had arrived. "Oh! It's good to see you!" He grinned and hugged him, his family all coming together to greet him as he looked over their heads and found Tessa in the midst of the crowd, winking at her as she chuckled and shook her head at his antics.