Gavin was all smiles and full of energy the following day as they drove back to the house. He clutched his Kiki doll and chatted away about how funny Uncle Dante was. Rocco tried his best to keep his energy positive despite dreading the meeting.

Dante entertained Gavin for most of the morning while Rocco packed some of their stuff. He'd have to get the rest from the house slowly over time. First things first was sitting down with Alyssa and trying to work out this custody thing. Then they'd have to sit down with Gavin and explain what's happening—two things he was dreading but knew needed to happen.

Gavin was racing towards the house as soon as he pulled up. Rocco frowned, realizing he probably assumed Dani was here. That was going to make this whole thing all the more difficult.

Rebecca answered the door, and Gavin was really excited to see her. Surprisingly enough, she gave him a big hug and was very sweet with him.

"I'll take him outside to play while you two talk." Rebecca offered with a gracious smile.

"Can my Auntie Dani play with us too?" Gavin asked her as Rebecca took his hand and started walking to the backyard.

"Not today, sweet boy. But we are going to have so much fun! I have a surprise for you!" Rebecca said and that worked. Gavin was instantly curious about the surprise and let his other question go for the moment.

Rocco shrugged a bit in surprise and stepped inside. Alyssa was sitting on the couch. She was dressed up in a white mini-dress with ankle boots. Her hair was left down and wavy. A tall, sturdy-looking man with dark hair streaked with grey was sitting next to Alyssa. He had a no-nonsense type of expression in his eyes as he sat calmly; he looked familiar, but Rocco couldn't place him.

"This is Leonardo Donato. My attorney."' Alyssa said with a smug look on her face.

Donato? Rocco's eyebrows furrowed. "I know the name... but I thought you focus and specialize in financial law. Your firm is known for—"

Well, devouring the poor and making the rich richer, but Rocco didn't say all that.

"On the contrary," Leonardo said in a smooth baritone tone. "I practiced family law for several years. Tate Manning reached out on behalf of his daughter, he is a big client of ours."

"You spoke to your father?" Rocco was stunned but Alyssa just shrugged it off, she very rarely bothered  going to Tate for anything, as the answer was normally no. This time she'd gotten to him it seemed. 

"He's been through a major divorce, twice. Made more sense to call him then Katherine." 

"I thought this was supposed to be an informal thing to discuss temporary custody?" Rocco kicked himself for not realizing she'd outsmart him.

"Oh, it is. Mr. Romano. Alyssa just wanted me to be here to mediate" Leonardo's fake soothing voice was grating on Rocco's nerves.

"Fine."' Rocco gritted. "Considering recent events, I think Gavin should spend most of his time with me."

"That's unfair, Rocco," Alyssa said. "It was an accident."

"An accident that could've been tragic." Rocco pointed out.

"Honestly, Rocco. You were just waiting for something to use against me."

"With all due respect Mr. Romano. You can't legally use this against her," Leonardo informed him." Child services investigated and dropped the case."

"I thought you were just here to meditate?" Rocco questioned.

"I'd like this to go smoothly. The courts want to see you trying to work it out independently during the separation process." Leonardo said without missing a beat the Donato firm was the most successful law firms in Sun City, if not the entire country. 

This wasn't good, Dante was going to have one hell of a fight here.

"I'd recommend a shared agreement. Half the week here and half the week with you." Leonardo added, looking at Rocco.

"How do I know he's safe here? What happens when you have a photo shoot or have to leave town?" Rocco directed his question at Alyssa.

"I'm dialing back on my career right now. I want to focus on Gavin." Alyssa said quickly, and Rocco's eyes narrowed at her. No way. That was a lie.

"That being said, I'm keeping a live-in on full time. In case something should come up and also for an extra hand." The smug look on her face was like nails on a chalkboard.

Alyssa wanted to trap him. She wanted him to lose his temper. He wouldn't fall for it. He hated the idea of only seeing Gavin for half the time. He only hoped that being agreeable now would give him a better chance for majority custody later.

"Fine, but I'd like my half of the week to go into the weekends. I typically work Monday through Friday, but there's a lot of flexibility unless I have court." Rocco finally said.

"Then it's my turn to question Gavin's safety. Do you have a nanny lined up?" Alyssa shot back at him. "Not to mention the living situation. Dante and Lexi basically have a party house on that beach. It's not a place for a young boy to live."

She was working hard to ignite his temper. It was taking all his energy to keep it at bay.

"As far as a nanny. We have set up a daycare center in the office," Rocco thought fast; that would be easy enough. Everyone there loved Gavin; they'd all help out.

"And for the housing, I'm glad you brought that up," Rocco continued. "The studio we rent for your photos is a two-bedroom apartment?"

A flicker of surprise crossed her face, but she hid it fast.

"Oh yes! I couldn't find a studio, but it worked out great, with extra bedrooms for getting dressed. Of course, you could stay there. That makes a lot of sense!" She said, feigning a cheerful demeanor.

She didn't falter as he hoped she would. He knew there was more to that story, but apparently, she was prepared for him to ask about it. He was determined to find out more when he got in there.

"Since you'll need some time to move in and get settled, should we have you pick up Gavin on Friday for the weekend?" She added in a sickly-sweet voice.

"Fine."

"Great!" she said, bouncing up; Leonardo also stood and faced Rocco.

"Glad we were able to come to a decision." Leonardo held out his hand for Rocco to shake. He begrudgingly did so, and then her attorney left.

"What about talking to Gavin about all this?" He turned to look at Alyssa again after Leonardo had left.

"He's to young to understand." She said dismissively, her usual attitude back.

"He needs to know why I don't live here anymore." Rocco said through gritted teeth.

"Should we just have Lexi tell him?" She smirked.

"This isn't a joke, Lys. I'm not trying to traumatize our son."

"Then you shouldn't have broken up his family."

He stared at her for a long moment as a realization hit him.

"What?" She crinkled her nose.

"I'm starting to... I think I hate you." Rocco admitted shaking his head in surprise. It was almost liberating, in a way, realizing it. He should feel horrible for having feelings like that for the mother of his child, but...he didn't.

"Not anywhere near as much as I hate you." She got close to his face and practically hissed at him.

She spun on her heels and huffed upstairs.

He shook off the bad energy before making his way to the backyard. Gavin raced up to him, holding a new floaty toy in his hands.

"Daddy, can we go swim?"

"I told him we could use it once I found out if he'd had lessons yet. I didn't want to assume it would be okay," Rebecca explained.

"I was going to teach him this summer," Rocco said feeling a burst of sadness. They could have a pool at the building he'd be moving into.

"Gavi. Let's wait a bit for swimming. Daddy wants to be with you when you're in the pool." Rocco said softly as he leaned down to talk to Gavin.

"Daddy here now." Gavin looked confused.

Rocco gave Rebecca a quick look and she nodded, heading over to the porch area to wait for them.

"Listen, Bud," Rocco said gently. "I love you so much, and so does Mommy. But you know how sometimes Mommy and Daddy fight?"

His eyes got bigger as he nodded in agreement.

"We don't want you to feel scared or upset when we yell and fight."

"No, I don't like that." Gavin agreed, bobbing his little head in agreement.

"So, Daddy and Mommy aren't going to live together anymore. Mommy will stay here and I'm going to live somewhere else."

He gave him a moment to absorb that.

"But you're going to come to stay with me a lot. When you do, we are going to have so much fun."

"I can go with Daddy now?" Gavin asked.

"Not today, Gavi." Rocco ruffled his hair. "I'm going to pick you up on Friday. By then, the apartment will be all ready."

And Dani will be on a plane back to Oaktown, he thought. How was he going to explain that to Gavin?

"Gavi wants to go now!"

"I'm sorry, Buddy, but not today.

"Don't go, Daddy!" He whined, tears starting to form in his eyes.

"I understand this is a lot. It's okay if you feel sad," Rocco said soothingly.

Gavin started crying, so he pulled him into a big hug and held him there for a long time. His heart breaking right along with his son.