Dani sat on the plane, wringing her hands in her lap. She couldn't believe she had agreed to this. She had adamantly refused to live with Katherine and was about to move into her equally awful sisters' basement to live and work for her.

 Alyssa offered Dani a full-time nanny job with a generous salary and free room and board. The money she made could be used to pay for Kevin's rehab, another stress off her back. How could she pass it up?

She had never desired to know the chosen one, but a part of her was always a little curious about her. What was it like to never have to struggle? 

"Wow," she breathed, her eyes wide with wonder as she exited the plane and looked around the huge Sun City airport. Everyone was walking so fast and hurriedly. Dani still couldn't believe how quickly Alyssa managed to get her on the next plane. She already felt like she was in a foreign land.

Finally, she saw the driver holding her name, Danica, on a sign and hurried over. He smiled politely and took her bags, opening the back of a waiting limo.

"A limo?" She gasped; she couldn't wait to tell Kara about this!

The drive was freeway for most of it, but ocean views were everywhere, and she stared out the window like a puppy the whole ride. Eventually, he pulled into a street that led to the gated neighborhood where her sister lived. Every house was huge and breathtaking. The sky was clear blue and sunny, the lawns all perfectly green; it was like she was in a movie.

The driveway was long and winded around as they pulled up to the main entrance. The house was unbelievable! Or was it a mansion? It sure looked like it.  It was beige and white with stone detailing; it had tons of huge windows and was surrounded by beautiful landscaping and greenery.

"Mrs. Romano said to bring you right inside." The driver said as he exited the car and opened the door for Dani. She couldn't imagine this being her sister's life. She must feel like royalty every day.

The driver carried her measly two duffel bags, packed tight with everything Dani could grab in such a hurry. Her best friend Kara was graciously storing the rest for her. Eric was friendly enough to let her out of her lease, well technically, he'd have been kicking her out in a week anyway; now he could rent it sooner. She promised to mail him the back rent when she got her first paycheck.

 There was a large porch out front with a few outdoor couches, a coffee table, and a loveseat. Alyssa had a living room on her porch... 

"Wow," she muttered under her breath. 

She felt her jaw-dropping wider as she walked inside. It was so shiny, and everything was so white. She wondered how it was possible to keep everything so clean with a three-year-old in the house.

"Hello?" Dani called out.

"Oh, good, you're here," Alyssa called back. "I'm in the kitchen."

Okay." Dani wandered through the living room and then noticed the large archway to the kitchen—another glaringly white room with expensive-looking everything. 

Her sister sat casually on a stool by the massive island dressed in a pair of fitted black pants and a tight lacy tank top. She had her hair perfectly curled and let down. A pair of oversized sunglasses sat on top of her head and a bag was packed near the kitchen door.

Dani was in her flight wear, an oversized tee shirt, and loose torn-up jeans. She had her long brown hair pulled into a loose bun.

Alyssa looked at her disdainfully. "I have a closet full of last season's fashions downstairs in your room. Put them to use."

"Nice to see you too," Dani said dryly.

"I'm just looking out for you. You walk around here like that, and people will throw change at you." 

"Excuse me?"

"I can't stay and give you a tour," she continued on casually, ignoring Dani's response. "Eddy, my manager is going to be here any minute and I need to go. I will be back in a week or so. My husband should be back by Sunday." 

Dani furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Alyssa hadn't mentioned that neither of them would be here while she got settled in with Gavin.

"He jetted off to Italy and once again couldn't be bothered with what matters to my career," Alyssa added with a scowl across her red lips. Dani felt a little uneasy; someone who flew off to Italy at a moment's notice would probably be just as snobby and entitled as Alyssa. 

Could she handle this?

"Gavin is downstairs in his playroom; your room and the laundry room are down there. He can show you anything else," Alyssa said. "As I said, I need to go. I cannot miss this flight."

"Wait, that's it?"

"What else is there?" Alyssa shrugged.

"Does he have any allergies or anything? What about his habits, foods, his likes, fears..."? She started rattling things off. She knew Sophie well by now and Kara still left her a two-page list whenever she babysat.

"You'll figure it out," Alyssa cut her off. "You said you're good with kids, right?"

"Well, yes, but..."

"You'll be fine," Alyssa said in a cheerful voice. "Gavi, come up here and meet your auntie!"

"Should he be down there alone?" Dani found herself mumbling.

Alyssa either didn't hear her or ignored her. Finally, the little boy crawled up the stairs. He looked at Dani with wide eyes. They were a sparkling green against his lightly tanned skin. His dark brown hair fell into his tiny little face. He was so much cuter than he was in the pictures.

"Well, hello there, Gavin." Dani kneeled to his level.

"Hi," he said shyly.

"This is your Aunt Danielle," Alyssa said. "She is going to help Mommy and Daddy care for you as Mary did."

"Gavi, why don't you show her your playroom and her room?" Alyssa said she knelt and kissed his head.

"Okay, Mommy."

"I'm going to go before he realizes it," Alyssa whispered.

"Uh...okay," Dani said awkwardly.

"My husband might be a little surprised to see you. We were going to wait to hire someone... Just tell him you're here because you needed a place to stay."

"You want me to lie to your husband?" Dani gaped.

"It's not a lie. You are here because you need a place to stay, and he doesn't need to be worrying about me not being here right now. It'll be fine, don't worry." Alyssa smiled and waved her off.

"No, go on and get Gavin distracted, or you're going to have a tantrum on your hands when he sees me leave," Alyssa added in a whisper.

"Let's go see your playroom, Gavi," Dani said. She took the little boy's hand and followed him downstairs. He did a good job climbing down, his little bare feet pattering. She was surprised to see him still in his pajamas. It was nearly noon already.

She couldn't believe Alyssa had just left her with her son like that. Where was the fact sheet? Emergency phone numbers? She didn't even know how to get ahold of Rocco if something happened.

She breathed to calm herself and focused on taking in her new home.

The basement was much cozier than the upstairs; it was painted cream and had wood trim. The floors looked like natural hardwood, which made Dani nervous about how Gavin was coming up and down by himself.

The main playroom was an ample open space with an oversized comfy couch, a giant plush rug, and boxes of toys and movies. The room also had a big TV and DVD player and a cozy fireplace in the corner with a plush recliner near it. That looked like a great book nook for her at night after Gavin slept.

"This is where I play," Gavin gestured to his toys on the floor.

"It's very cool. You have lots of toys," Dani said in a cheerful voice.

He shrugged, sat on the floor, and started playing with some dinosaur figures lying there. Dani showed herself to the attached room right outside his play area, which was also spacious and cozy with a sizeable comfy-looking queen bed. She even had her own attached bathroom, which was totally white and spotless, like everything upstairs. She found a door inside the bathroom and opened it. It was a walk-in closet that was already full of clothes.

She stuck her suitcase on the floor inside, she'd look through them later, but she figured most of Alyssa's clothes wouldn't be her style. She wondered if by last season Alyssa meant pre-boobs and snickered a little before going back out to join Gavin.

"Do you like dinosaurs?" she asked, picking one up.

"Yeah, I like all manimals."

"You do? What's your favorite animal of all time?" She smiled at his mispronunciation.

"Tigers." He looked up at her and finally smiled.

"Tigers, are great! I love them too." 

"I'm a tiger." He declared, getting on all fours and crawling. "Roar."

"Ahh, a Tiger!" Dani squealed, covering her face as he crawled towards her.

He laughed then, his green eyes twinkling happily.

"Roar." He laughed crawling closer to her.

"Oh no, a tiger; I'm scared!" Dani faked a horrified face, and Gavin stopped and giggled.

"It's okay. I'm not a mean tiger. I'm Gavi!"

"Whew. That's a relief. " She wiped her arm across her forehead, and he laughed again.

"You're silly Auntie Dan--." he struggled with her name.

"Dani," she offered, and he smiled at that,

"Okay, Auntie Dani." He smiled wide.

"Did you have lunch yet?"

"No."

"Are you hungry?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay, come on." She held out her hand, and he took it and followed her back to the kitchen.

"Is mommy at a work call? " He asked, furrowing his eyebrows in this adorable way as he asked the question.

"Um, Mommy had to go out of town for a little while. But I'm going to take good care of you while she's gone." Dani lifted him and set him on the counter.

"You want to help me cook?" she asked as a quick distraction.

"Yay! I do wanna help!"

Good job, Dani, you're not so bad at this, she thought with a smile.

She scooted him a bit so he sat in the middle of the counter with space before him and thumbed through the cupboards. Finally, she found some peanut butter.

"How about peanut butter and jelly?"

"Yeah, that's good," Gavin agreed.

Dani smiled and laid out the bread in front of him. She grabbed some Jelly from the fridge and a spoon.

"You do the Jelly. I'll do the peanut butter." She opened the jar, set it by him, took a small spoonful, and spread it down on the bread to show him before handing him the spoon.

"You got it?"

"Yup. I can do it." Those thick little brows of his were furrowing again as he concentrated. It was adorable. She was smiling at him again feeling her eyes get misty. A child was something she longed for, but it had seemed so distant and far off because of her current situation. Now being here taking care of such an adorable little boy. It made her realize how deep that maternal longing was.

Gavin grabbed a big spoonful, threw it down on the bread, and then started messily spreading it around, staying focused and concentrating on the task.

"Good job Gavi it looks awesome!"

He looked up at her and beamed proudly before starting on the next slice of bread.

She quickly spread the peanut butter and looked up to see him watching.

"Yours looks awesome, too, Auntie Dani." He nodded at her.

"Well, thank you." She ruffled his hair.

"Now we put 'em together like this." She made up one sandwich and let him to the other. He laughed happily as he slapped the two pieces of bread together.

After lunch, Dani took Gavin upstairs and let him pick out whatever clothes he wanted. The upstairs was just as white as the downstairs but was carpeted. Gavin's room was bright and colorful, though. It was really well done, actually, she felt coziest in that room. 

He decided on a Super-Man tee shirt and his jeans. She combed his messy brown hair a little but, in the end, decided to leave it all spiky and messy. It was cute that way.

"Is there a park by here?"

"Yes! We can go?" His eyes lit up, and he nodded eagerly.

"Sure can!" 

He was beaming happily, and she was relieved she'd won him over so quickly.