Rocco did a basic tour of the main areas on the side of the city near them. He didn't go too far into the city because traffic was always too busy, and he wanted to take her places; she'd take Gavin mostly. They visited the coffee shop close to their house first which really appealed to Dani. He encouraged her to go there whenever his good friend Breanna owned it, and he knew she'd take Dani under her wing.

He drove by the strip in case she wanted to shop but didn't seem interested. This girl really was day to her sister's night in every way. She'd already been to Gavin's favorite park, so he showed her the beach, and they had a little picnic there.

They sat and watched the waves for a while and she took some pictures of the ocean. She then showed Rocco and Gavin pictures of her hometown from her phone. Gavin climbed right up into her lap, and she let him hold the phone. Gavin was excited by all her pictures, asked who everyone was, and always pointed Dani out immediately. He loved the scenery and the big mountain pictures she'd taken.

Rocco couldn't stop gazing, his son adored her, and he could see why, she was so easy with him. So warm and loving. Why couldn't Alyssa be like this with her son? He tried not to it irk him, but it did.

"This is your room?" Gavin asked.

"That's my apartment." She quickly shuffled past the picture of the modest, small living room he had been living in. He felt a pang of guilt. He wished he had known she needed help. How long had she been suffering? Neither Alyssa nor her damn mother thought to tell him? Lord knows Katherine had no qualms about asking him for money.

"Is this 'partment to?" Gavin had thumbed back into an unknown folder, and she gasped. The picture was a younger, smiling Dani in front of an old white Victorian-style house.

"Um, no, Gavi, that's a house. That's my old house."

"Oh."

"Why don't we look at those some other time, okay?" she said gently. "We can show your dad the zoo ones?"

"Yay, the manimals!" Gavin cheered.

"Alright I'm excited for those." Rocco said he glanced at her and saw a flash of pain in her eyes. He couldn't help but wonder what happened to her.

**

After a long day outside they went to have dinner at a pizza place outside of the city.

Gavin was thrilled because he loved anything he could eat with his hands. Dani seemed overwhelmed by the sites and places and large  amount of people everywhere. Her face instantly relaxed in the easy atmosphere of the small pizza parlor.

"Wow it smells good in here."

"It's as authentic as you'll find in Sun City, brick ovens and everything."

"So how was your trip to Italy anyway?"

"It wasn't really a trip," he explained. "A family friend passed away."

"Oh my god. Alyssa made it sound... Never mind. I'm so sorry I sounded so insensitive; I didn't know," she said nervously.

"I'm not the terrible person I'm sure she made me out to be," he said earnestly. "I never would have left so soon after Mary, but my grandmother needed me."

"Of course, she did!" Dani exclaimed as those soulful eyes grew wide. "I understand."

"Thank you for everything you did. He had a lot of fun when he could have been really sad and scared." 

"Of course," Dani said. "He had fun, but he did miss you a lot."

"I bet bedtime was tough." Rocco looked over at Gavin who was focused so hard on the pizza that he was pretty much tearing apart with his hands before he ate it. He chuckled slightly and looked back at her.

"We have a routine, bath, teeth, PJ's, then we chat for a while before he goes to sleep," Rocco explained quietly. "He's never does it without me."

"It was a little rough that's why we made a fort instead,." Dani whispered.

"I see." He laughed, what a clever girl she was.

She giggled over at Gavin and his big mess he just shoved a handful of food in his mouth and laughed.

"It's Italy food!" He said with a mouthful of food.

"Okay we can be messy to an extent bud." Rocco laughed and motioned shutting his mouth while he chewed.

"He insisted noodles were okay to eat with his hands," Dani laughed. "He said you said as long as it was Italy food. It was goulash, I don't know if that counts."

"It's a long story I didn't exactly say he could eat noodles with his hands. I was just trying to bug Lys and told him it was okay; he could be messy with Italian food and uh yeah..."

"Well now he thinks he can eat all Italian food with his hands." Dani shook her head. "That's priceless."

"Oops." Rocco laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well, in the grand scheme of things a messy three-year-old is really not that big of a deal."

"Here, here." She toasted him with her milk glass.

"For the record Gavin loves Italian food so if he thought your goulash was Italian that's a high compliment," Rocco told her.

"Right Gavi?" He glanced at Gavin who had finally stopped laughing and was picking at the mess on his plate some more.

"Right," Gavin nodded.

"Well thank you." She smiled her cheeks flushing slightly.

"So, what was that other thing you were talking about earlier?" Rocco asked curiously. "Did you need money another time or something?"

"I doubt you remember it was a long time ago, when Katherine asked for your help. I get it, you didn't know me. I don't know what she told you about it but—"

"Katherine? She's never talked to me about you, or asked me to help you," he said, and her jaw clenched as her eyes darkened.

"She never called you?" Her face paled.

"Dani, You, okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine, it's not your fault, just Katherine lied and ..." she trailed off. 

"Well if I could still help..."

"No, it's too late now," Dani said hastily. "It's a long and depressing story, you don't want to hear it."

"You'd be surprised, my past isn't all rainbows and puppies either."

"Is anyone's?" she sighed.

"I want his to be." Rocco glanced at Gavin.

He was trying, he was doing everything he could but sometimes it felt more like a fight than anything else. The fact that his son was happier than he'd been in weeks while Lys was gone, and Dani was here did not escape him.

"You're a good dad, Rocco." She said quietly she gave him a soft smile and nod before turning her attention to a very messy Gavin.

**

Gavin was sound asleep in his car seat by the time they got home after the long day he was wiped out. Dani sat down on the comfy couch letting out a sigh as Rocco carried the sleeping boy upstairs. His tiny head rested peacefully on Rocco's shoulder. She couldn't help but notice how gently and carefully Rocco held him in those strong arms of his.

She had felt quick at ease with Rocco and Gavin, they were fun to watch together. It was cute how Gavin would try and mimic something Rocco said or an expression he made. She realized now why he missed him so much, the two of them were obviously very close. She felt a stab of bitterness towards her sister, she hoped she appreciated what she had because it was special.

Dani was even more resolved in her earlier decision to get out more. Now she knew of a place to hang out and Rocco's friend Breanna seemed nice. This family-like day with the two of them only further confirmed to her that she needed to start living life more. She didn't want to be alone forever.

"Want a glass of wine?" Rocco's voice broke her thoughts.

"Yeah sure." She sat up a little and watched him walk over to a hidden liquor nook in the wall behind a bookshelf.

"Fancy," she teased.

"Yeah, yeah." He rolled his eyes and poured them each a glass of red wine. "Lys insists on a 'clean' look. I call it empty."

"Here you go." He handed her a glass and sat in the chair near the couch.

"Thanks." She took a long sip and closed her eyes briefly, it was incredible.

"What is this?" she asked.

"Sogni d'oro." He said swirling the glass.

"I've never heard of that. But I know nothing about wine. I just get the cheapest box on sale."

He shuddered, "box wine, never."

"It's not that bad," she said and then took a second sip, "but it's not this. So good!"

"It's from my family's vineyard in Italy. It's my favorite, it stands for golden dreams because it's just that, a perfect soothing relaxing wine. Or so my nana always says." He sipped some of his wine much faster than she had.

"Wow so your family had a vineyard and a law firm?"

"The vineyard was my dad's gift to his mother when his law firm finally made it. It was always my nana's dream. I lived with her in Italy while I was a teenager and helped out in the fields a lot."

"What brought you back to the states?" She asked.

"My dad's law firm," he explained. "I came back to go to law school in New York, just like my dad. Then I took over the firm and my brother joined a year later, just like my parents wanted. The firm meant the world to them. Neither of them grew up with any money. Making the business a success, being able to help their families, it was everything to them."

"I notice you mentioned them in the past tense," she said softly.

"Yeah," he sighed.

"How old were you?"

"I was thirteen and Dante was twelve," he picked at an invisible spot on his jeans. "A damn car accident on the way home from a dinner of all things."

Dani let out a long breath and met his pained eyes. "That's the worse way possible. It's so sudden and heart wrenching. It must have been awful being so young."

A lump was forming in her throat for him, she understood his pain deeply.

"I remember never wanting to get out of bed, but I had to for Dante. I just thank God for my nana, she really pulled us through it, and I know she was hurting. She loved both my dad and my mom so much. That's why I had to be there for her this weekend. She was there at our worst. She took care of us for years." He said his eyes were filling with a mix of emotions.

"Of course, you had to be there for her," Dani agreed.

"Thank you for saying that." He smiled weakly.

"It's true."

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to start dumping all that on you, it's the wine, sogni d'oro will also get you blubbering."

"It's okay," she said quietly. "I asked."

He held up his empty glass. "Refill?"

"Why not." She handed him her glass.

"You didn't say sorry." He remarked as filled the glasses back up.

"Hmm?" she mumbled.

"Usually whenever their death is brought up, people are compelled to say their sorry as if they're at fault or something. You didn't say it." He handed her the glass and their hands touched for a brief moment as she took it from him.

"I know," she said, giving him an understanding nod. "That and, if there's anything I can do."

"What happened?"

"We don't have twelve hours for my story, trust me," she smiled sadly.

"Do you miss Italy?" she asked instead, her voice lighter as she sipped more of the delectable wine.

He seemed to accept defeat and relaxed in the plush chair across from her.

"I miss the nice quite countryside we lived in yes. I'd love a big yard and a modest house in a small town for my son. I had at one point planned to get Dante on his feet, and then take a chunk of business and start a small branch office somewhere like that." He took a long sip.

"Why didn't you?"

"Lys needs to be in Sun City for her career and our lifestyle here demands the salary I'm getting...so here we are." His eyes dimmed slightly.

What about what you want? She bit the question back, she knew that wasn't her place, their marriage was out of bounds.

"You're a good guy," she said instead saluting him with her wine glass.

"I know." He said in a Gavin-like way with a little smirk on his face.

"This stuff works like a dream. I'm exhausted." She smiled softly. "I think I'll head downstairs."

"Alright, well thanks for listening to me drone on. I hope I didn't depress you too much."

"Not at all, it was nice talking to you, Rocco."

"I will collect on your story though. Miss mysterious... Manning, or?"

"Valentine." She turned and gave him one last smile before turning back and heading into the kitchen.

"Well good night, Miss Valentine," He called after her.

"Good night, Rocco," She called back.