Dani was feeling nervous Saturday afternoon, but she was excited to get out and have some fun. She opted for her favorite faded blue jeans and a fitted lavender tank top with some lacy detailing. It wasn't supposed to be very hot out, and Rocco told her it could get cool later, so she grabbed a light jacket just in case. She left her hair down and straight, and her makeup was natural. Since they'd be on the beach, she wore her black flip-flops.

She grabbed her purse and sunglasses and headed upstairs. Rocco was stirring up her pasta salad at the counter. He was dressed was wearing a pair of long brown shorts and a white tee shirt that was fitted enough to show his muscles under it. She gulped; how was this even hotter than those suits he'd wear to work?

Not hot, brother-in-law, not hot, she internally scolded herself.

"How is it?" she asked nervously as he took a taste.

"Perfect." 

"It's tuna salad," she rolled her eyes.

"A damn good tuna salad," he retorted.

"Yeah, damn good!" Gavin repeated.

"Uh oh, now look what you did," she teased, giving him a 'look' as she tried to bite back a laugh.

"Oops, uh, Gavi, don't say damn, okay?" Rocco said sheepishly.

"Why?"

"Cause it's a bad word."

"Daddy was bad?" Gavin asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Dani couldn't hold back anymore; she burst out laughing.

"Gee, thanks, partner," he drawled.

"Daddy said a bad word," Gavin said, and then he giggled with her. She managed to calm herself down as Rocco got control of Gavin.

"Okay, okay, are we ready or what?" He grabbed his keys and twirled them around.

"Let's go!" Gavin cheered.

As Dani settled into the front seat of the car Rocco's comment about her being his partner suddenly resonated with her. That was kind of a strange thing to call her, wasn't it? Where Gavin was concerned, she supposed it had kind of been a partnership. They'd been sharing the responsibilities, but she wasn't going above and beyond what any other nanny would do. At least, she didn't think she was. Considering the mother was out of town anyway.

She opted on not reading much into it; it could have meant nothing at all; maybe he didn't even realize he used that word; they were just playing around.

"I can't wait to see my Uncle Dante and Lexi." Gavin said from his car seat in the backseat.

"Uncle Dante is so excited to see you too, Bud; he missed you," Rocco called back with a grin.

Rocco flipped on the radio and started flipping through the stations.

"I suppose Dani wants to listen to country?" Rocco teased, "You can check my CD collection, but I don't think you'll find any Achy Breaky Heart there."

"Watch it, buddy," she gave him a mock glare, "I may just have a young hot female artists' CD in my purse that I'm not afraid to make you listen to."

"You carry CD's around with you in your purse?"

"Just this one," she giggled, pulling out Taylor Swift's Fearless CD. 

He groaned, "You weren't joking."

 "First thing I grabbed when I packed my apartment, can we listen, please?" 

"Alright, fine, if you like her that much, we'll listen to it," Rocco agreed begrudgingly, "but you owe me."

"Let me guess, more chocolate chip cookies?" as she grinned and popped the CD in.

"Or peanut butter?"

"Deal." Her laughter faded as Taylor's voice came blaring through his speakers.

Rocco was more than a good sport because he was humming along and couldn't hide his grin as Gavin and Dani started singing louder, and soon enough he was singing, all, the words along with them. 

"Rocco! You're such a liar. You know all the words!" Dani accused, and he put a finger to his lips and mouthed shh, as he winked at her.

Soon they were all singing, and Gavin was the loudest. They nearly laughed to the point of tears as the song ended.

"If you wanted me to make peanut butter cookies, you could have just asked!" Dani mock scolded a grinning Rocco as the next song started up, and he was again singing along.

They were having so much fun she was kind of sad when they arrived at Dante's house and Rocco parked. Just a few cars were parked outside; the house was a fantastic teal beach house that sat on stilts. A massive porch with a few rocking chairs greeted them as they walked up the stairs.

"This wraps around to the back, where it's all sand and ocean," Rocco explained as he opened the door, and she followed him inside.

"Wow, it's beautiful," she mused as her eyes took in the house.

It was different from Rocco and Alyssa's white, shiny, clean house.

The floors were the most incredible; they were done in a cool multi-colored rock-looking tile, unlike anything Dani had seen before.

The house was one large open layout, and they walked right into the kitchen, which had white countertops, but all the cabinets were painted the same beachy teal as the outside. The walls were painted a very light shade of yellow that offset the teal well.

A sizable island with several food dishes faced the living area; Dani set her salad down. The living area was decorated with many colorful, artsy photos, all with a beachy theme. It was furnished with an oversized sectional couch that looked plush and comfy. Behind the sofa was a sliding glass door that led to the deck and a fantastic ocean view.

"The bathroom's right here." Rocco pointed to a door near the deck, "there's another one down that hallway, where the bedrooms are, and finally, a third one outside."

"There's a bathroom outside?" Dani asked.

"Yeah, he's got a little shack on the beach with a hot tub in it, and he put a little bathroom in there, too," Rocco explained.

"Wow, well, it's a great house; it's got a happy vibe," Dani gushed.

"Thanks, I designed every detail of it myself," a man she assumed must be Dante walked into the kitchen, "Well, I had some help, but it was my vision."

Dante looked quite different than Rocco; he had short black hair and a rounder face with some stubble. Their eyes were a similar shade of green, though. He was dressed casually in baggy jeans with flip-flops and a tee shirt.

"Hey Dante, this is Dani, Dani, Dante," Rocco gestured.

"It's nice to meet you," he said, extending his hand with a polite smile.

"You too; what an awesome place you have," she said.

"This old thing?" he joked.

"So lame, Dante," Rocco teased, slapping him on the shoulder.

"Unkey Dante!"

"Hey, Gavin!" Dante scooped him up, and Gavin giggled while he started swirling him around.

"Lemme down!" He demanded Dante carefully set him back down.

"This is my Auntie Dani. She takes care of me." Gavin told Dante while grabbing her leg.

"I heard about that. I heard she does a good job." Dante said, glancing up at Dani with a slight nod.

"Yeah, and this is my best buddy Kiki," Gavin had the teddy bear tucked into his little elastic jeans. It was so sweet how he was keeping his buddy close by. Dani half laughed but was a little choked up.

"Nice to meet you too, Kiki." Dante grinned and shook one of the little paws.

"Did your Auntie Dani give him to you?" Dante guessed.

"Yeah," Gavin said with big wide eyes, "Him was her best friend, and now he's mine."

"Well, that makes him extra special, doesn't it?" Lexi had walked in at some point, smiling adoringly at little Gavin.

"Yeah," Gavin nodded, "Cause he came from my Auntie Dani's, auntie."

Dani did have to bite back the tears at this point. She also had to avoid Rocco's gaze, which she could feel burning toward her. If she even looked at him, she'd lose it for sure.

"Wow, she sure was nice to give that to you," Dante said.

"Yeah, she loves me," Gavin grinned.

"You got that right," Dani tried to shield her tears with a little laugh; she knelt, gave Gavin a big hug, and kissed the top of his head. He was beaming happily when she released him.

"Oh my gosh," Lexi cooed. "That's so adorable."

"Well don't you look pretty," Dante winked at Lexi, who returned it with a glare.

She did look very pretty. She had secured her curly blond hair into a side braid with a few pieces hanging out. She wore a silly, loose, fitted blue tank top paired with jean shorts and flip-flops. Lexi had a similar style to Dani's, which made her feel at ease. 

"New guy?" Rocco guessed.

"Bobby," Dante said in a fake girly tone, holding his hand over his heart.

"Bobby? " Rocco scoffed.

"What?" Lexi gave him an exasperated look.

"Well, I guess Gavi will have someone to play with," Rocco quipped, earning a glare from Lexi.

"What's he going to do, go by Bob? Sound like he's eighty?" Lexi snapped.

"Rocco, don't rip on...wait for it..."' Dante smirked, "Bobby," he did the girl's voice again, and Lexi smacked him in the arm, hard, for his efforts.

"Shut up, losers and go get the food ready. Dani and I are going to get our drink on," Lexi grabbed her arm.

"Go for it. I'm driving," Rocco nodded at her with a little grin.

"Now, when Bobby gets here..." Lexi started, but Dante cut her off.

"Tell him you're probably in the bathroom. You had a bean burrito for lunch?" he asked with an innocent expression cocking his head to the side. Rocco laughed, which made Gavi get excited and start laughing too.

"Seriously! I like this guy, okay," she sighed with a pleading look.

"Then I'll keep my Q and A session down to five ...ten questions tops," Rocco quipped.

"You're not drilling him either. You'll say hello, introduce yourselves, and tell him I'm on the porch. That's it, got it?" she demanded, staring at one brother and the other. Now Dani could see their similarities as they stood still side by side with oh-innocent-looking expressions.

"Yes, we promise that Dante won't do or say anything to directly embarrass you or little Bobby," Rocco added with a grin, his eyes flashing with amusement. 

"Honestly, can you believe them? " Lexi rolled her eyes. 

"Oh, go drink. Come along, men, let's cook," Rocco said in a deep voice.

"Yeah, men!" Gavin cheered.

"Well, alright, little buddy!" Dante's voice boomed through the large house.

Dani chuckled as she followed Lexi out. She didn't get why her sister didn't try harder to get along with them. They were so fun and reminded her of her friends at home. Her earlier worries about Dante not trusting her because of Alyssa had completely diminished. She had a sneaky suspicion she could probably thank Lexi and her little visit for that.

The porch was huge, with a few round tables and a big gas grill overlooking a white sandy beach. Lexi grabbed a few beers from the cooler and tossed her one.

"This view is unbelievable," Dani breathed, looking down at the beach below them.

"Isn't it? I could sit out here for hours," Lexi said softly.

"I can't believe Dante had this place built and designed by himself," Dani murmured.

"Well, he had some help," Lexi said.

"Of course, I'm sure he had to hire people to do it."

"No, I mean someone designed this little dream beach house with him," Lexi said in a low voice.

"Oh," Dani said, "I'm guessing it didn't work out?"

"I guess it depends on how you look at that," Lexi said thoughtfully.

Dani shot her a curious look.

"I don't know that he would have been happy if things had worked out the way he thought," Lexi explained.

Their quiet talk was broken by loud voices coming from the house.

"Breanna and Alana are probably here," Lexi noted.

"Where's the beer?" A tall woman in a Rolling Stones tee shirt and jean shorts stepped onto the porch.

"Cooler," Lexi pointed.

"This is Dani, by the way, Dani, this is Breanna's wife, Alana," Lexi said.

"The woman behind the cookies!" Alana turned and flashed a big, friendly grin at Dani as she headed over to them.

"I'm glad you all liked them," Dani smiled.

"It's good to meet you," Alana tilted her beer up. Dani lifted hers in salute.

"Likewise," Dani said before they each took a swig.

"Hello again, Dani," Breanna joined them next. She was dressed casually in black shorts and a purple tank top, with her hair tucked back in a messy bun.

"Hi, Breanna," Dani was feeling so at home with Rocco's friends, and she was so relieved. She'd been afraid everyone here would be snobby like her sister.

"Why is there nothing on the grill yet?" Lexi asked.

"They're still prepping the meat. Little Gavin's helping. It's so cute," Breanna said, "He showed me his hamburger hands."

Dani laughed; she wished she could have got a picture of that. She and Gavin went to the photo place in town Friday afternoon, and she got a bunch of pictures of him printed. He was framing her mirror now with all the other family and friends where he belonged.

"Tell us about this guy. Bobby?" Breanna looked at Lexi curiously.

"Ooh, a new guy?" Alana scooted in.

"Please don't make a big deal over it. Rocco and Dante are enough, thank you," Lexi groaned.

"Dante said you seemed pretty anxious about this one," Breanna pointed out.

"I don't know, I like him, okay," Lexi blushed.

"Don't worry; we'll behave, " Alana assured her.

Dani spotted a cute guy walking across the sand towards them from down below, carrying a case of beer. He had sandy blond hair, a pair of tan cargo shorts, and a blue polo tee shirt.

"Lexi, is that him? He's really cute!" Dani asked in a loud whisper.

"Oh no, that's just Jared, Breanna's brother," Lexi said.

"My very single brother," Breanna scooted close to Dani and winked.

"Oh," Dani laughed nervously. She meant cute for Lexi, not cute for her.

"Hey guys!" Jared had made his way up the steps; he set down the case of beer, and his eyes fell on her.

He was good-looking, though. He had a baby face with a bit of blond scruff that gave him just enough edge. His hair was straight and short but cut stylishly and modern. He was incredibly cute, but maybe not smoldering hot like...

On that thought, she changed gears...hadn't she been telling herself over and over again for the last week that she just needed to find someone to date? Well, here he was.

"Lexi, who's your friend?" Jared asked, his eyes twinkling with apparent interest.

"I'm Dani," she smiled, "Alyssa's sister."

"I'd introduce myself as Gavin's aunt instead," Alana suggested, and everyone chuckled a little.

"Alana, don't be rude to the girl," Jared scolded him.

"I like that idea, actually," Dani didn't let the razzing bug her; she took a swig from her beer.

"What's Dani short for?" Jared pulled up a chair and sat next to her.

"Danielle, but do not call me that, please," she begged. It always made her think of Katherine whenever she heard her full name. 

"Dani, it is then," Jared agreed. "You must be a model, too, huh?"

"Oh no, no way," Dani laughed at the idea.

"From where I'm sitting, you should be," he said in a low voice, and Breanna groaned while Alana laughed.

"Start the grill!" Dante yelled.

Alana jumped up and headed over to the grill.

"Firing it on!" Alana yelled back.

"Lexi! Your lover boy is here!" Rocco yelled.

"Oh god...no, no, he did not just say that," Lexi muttered.

"He did," Dani patted her back sympathetically.

"I'll kill him," Lexi muttered under her breath as she stood up.