Dani paced back and forth downstairs in her room for a few minutes after waking up. She was beyond nervous and still embarrassed about what happened the night before. She knew it wasn't Rocco's fault. He simply mistook her for Alyssa. She was mainly embarrassed by her reaction in the kitchen when he tried to apologize.

"In his boxers, how was I supposed to react?" she muttered.

Not look down! She thought, wincing again for the hundredth time. How could she help herself, he was like some kind of God with his messy dark hair and those emerald eyes, good lord, his body...

Stop, just stop. She chanted in her head.

Shower, she decided, racing into the sanctuary of her tiny bathroom.

It wasn't even possible for a man to be that hot, was it? Ogling jokingly over the pictures with Kara was one thing, but seeing him half naked in front of her, after feeling his strong hard body behind her, was—

Well, that was something else entirely. It had been long, much longer than she cared to remember since she had been held in a man's arms.

It felt so amazing, so right ...so perfect...

Stop! She shook her head of her thoughts and blasted the water on. She stepped right into the cold jetstream of water.

This is nothing more than proof that Kara was right about how badly she needed male attention in her life.

Maybe once she settled into a routine, she'd find a place to hang out and meet someone, go on an actual date. That shower felt good, and she was finally starting to feel calmer., but it was getting late. She knew she couldn't hide down there forever.

She chose a simple pair of jeans and a fitted cotton tee with quarter-length sleeves. She kept her makeup light as she usually did. Finally, she slowly headed upstairs. She could smell food cooking and heard Gavin's voice chattering away as she came up to the top of the stairs.

"Tigers don't eat eggs, though." She heard Rocco say and stopped for a second outside the door.

"Gavi Tigers do!" Gavin said, then laughed gleefully before making his best roar attempt.

"Gotcha, Daddy, I have tickle powers!" His little voice yelled out gleefully.

At this point, she began smiling softly.

"Ah, oh no, not the tickle powers..." Rocco exclaimed dramatically as Gavin laughed.

"I got you, Daddy!" Gavin exclaimed.

Rocco started 'laughing' hard as Gavin was probably tickling him. She shook her head and took a breath before opening the door.

"Auntie Dani!" Gavin looked up immediately from the kitchen floor, where he was sitting on his dad's stomach, tickling him. Rocco's long legs were extended out, and he was laughing while Gavin was basically pinching him with his little hands. It was quite a sight; she caught herself gazing for a second and stopped.

"Good morning Gavi." She smiled wide at him. His little face could put anyone in a good mood.

"Morning!" He jumped up and raced over to her. She knelt and gave him a big hug.

"Was there a tiger in here?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"A Gavi Tiger." He laughed and did his best to roar.

"Ah, a tiger!" She covered her face with her hands but peeked out at him.

"Is okay, Auntie Dani. Gavi tigers are nice." He told her as he put his little hand on her cheek.

"Oh, that's right. Whew." She did the arm across her forehead thing, and he erupted into giggles again.

"I got my daddy!" He announced.

Dani looked up at Rocco, who was now leaning against the kitchen counter watching them. He was dressed this morning, thankfully. He was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a fitted white tee shirt. He blinked quickly and averted his eyes, laughing nervously as if coming out of a stupor when she caught his gaze. She felt a rush of nerves in her belly as if she were some twelve-year-old with a crush and inwardly yelled at herself to get it together.

"Hey..." She stood up and smiled nervously.

"Hi, Dani, uh, Danielle. I'm so sorry about..."

"It's Dani, and It's nice to meet you, Rocco." She took a breath and extended her hand giving him a more assuring smile. He seemed more nervous than her and somehow that relaxed her.

"For the first time," she added with a wink.

He took her hand, his amazing emerald eyes shimmered momentarily as their gazes locked, and a little smirk took over his face. "Are you saying I get a do-over?"

"Yes." She nodded; she hoped her voice wasn't as breathy as she thought it just sounded.

"It's nice to meet you, Dani." He shook her hand and released it gently; she was overwhelmed, the postcards did not do this man justice.

"Likewise." She managed to keep her voice as impassive as she could.

"My daddy likes our fort." Gavin had grabbed hold of her hand.

"He got me blocks too." He was dragging her to the corner of the kitchen where a bunch of blocks were lying on the floor.

"Oh, cool." She sat down and put a couple together.

"Yeah cool." Gavin sat down beside her.

"Oh sure, now he likes them." Rocco laughed from behind them.

"What can I say?" She giggled a little as she stood up and faced him.

"You hungry? We kept the food warm for you." He gestured to the pan on the stove.

"We made scamb-ley eggs!" Gavin jumped down and rushed over to the table. She watched in awe as he climbed up on his booster seat alone.

"Wow good boy Gavin!" Rocco cheered. "Did he do that before?"

"No." Dani shook her head slowly.

She turned to Gavin. "What a big boy you are Gavin."

"I am a big wonder boy." He beamed proudly.

Rocco laughed out loud. "Wonderboy, huh?

"Wonder...oh I told him he was a wonderful boy." She laughed lightly and then glanced at Gavin's proud and smiling face.

"He is a wonder boy." She decided to give Gavin a big smile and wink.

"I help make the eggs Auntie Dani."

"You did? Well, these will be the best eggs ever, I bet." She glanced at Rocco who grabbed the pan and some plates from the counter.

"I know," Gavin said. "I very good."

"That's my boy," Rocco chuckled.

"You guys didn't have to wait for me to eat." Dani made herself useful, getting the glasses and silverware and helping Rocco set the table.

"Sure, we did. We're gentlemen, right Gavi." Rocco ruffled his hair and took the seat next to him.

"Right." Gavin nodded. "Gentlemen."

"Well, that is a very good thing to be." Dani couldn't help but kneel slightly to kiss Gavin's head as she put the glasses on the table.

Rocco filled up their plates, and Gavin watched him closely, his eyes always watching and learning. This really was an exciting and fun age. She was glad she could be a part of it. She thanked Rocco when he handed her a plate and tried to focus on eating, but her gaze kept returning to them. She couldn't help it Rocco was such a great dad.

Dani watched Rocco show Gavin how to keep the eggs on his fork. Gavin studied closely, his eyebrows doing that cute furrowing thing; she glanced at Rocco and saw him doing the same thing, so that's where he got that from; she bit back a smile. She was amazed at how much they looked alike. She averted her eyes before Rocco caught her gazing, internally berating herself for gawking.

"This is awesome you guys."  

"We did good Daddy." Gavin agreed heartily and she noticed half his plate was gone already. He was ten times more energetic now with his dad here.

"All because of my helper here." Rocco patted his head.

"Yep." Gavin nodded. "I stirred."

"Well, stirring is a big part." She nodded and took another bite making an mm sound.

Gavin beamed proudly. "It is."

"Did you see that? He just stole all the credit just like that." Rocco gestured dramatically and Gavin laughed more at the hand motions than anything.

Dani giggled. "Well, I'm going to guess that's a learned behavior."

Rocco smirked, ruffling Gavin's hair again. "Nah, I just let him have all the credit nowadays."

"He didn't give you any trouble, did he?" Rocco asked quietly.

"No, he was great. I had a lot of fun."

"I think Gavin here did too." Rocco looked at him. "Did you have fun with your Auntie Dani, Buddy?"

"Yeah!" Gavin smiled wide his face full of eggs. "I had the funnest funday ever!"

"Wow, that's a big compliment. Thank you." Dani smiled, a rush of emotion traveling through her. He was such a sweet little boy, and he liked her. She loved the little instant bond they formed here over the few short days she'd known him.

"Yeah," Gavin nodded.

"Say you're welcome." Rocco leaned close to his ear and spoke softly.

"Welcome." Gavin smiled at her.

"That's what we say when someone says thank you." He told him, patting his head.

"Okay." Gavin pursed his lips briefly as if committing the fact to memory then looked down at his nearly empty plate.

"I full," he announced.

"Alright, let's get you bathed and dressed." Rocco lifted him quickly and hoisted him on top of his shoulders. Gavin cheered and laughed gleefully.

"Dani, I'm not working today, so you can do whatever, but if you want, Gavin and I can give you a little tour of the city," Rocco offered.

"Sure, that'd be great." She said feeling a relief come over her. Maybe he wouldn't ask her about Alyssa or how she got hired after all.

"Alright, we should probably talk about your job here and all that boring stuff, too; we'll do that before we leave, cool?' He smiled at her.

Or not, she thought twice.

"Yeah, sounds good," she gulped back her nervousness.

"What stuff?" Gavin questioned.

"Nothing you need to worry about for at least thirteen years," Rocco chuckled.

She chuckled, realizing she'd been following them with her eyes she shook her head. She cleared the table and did the breakfast dishes as Rocco got Gavin ready.

She finished cleaning the kitchen up and sat at the table to wait. She wondered if Rocco had already talked to Alyssa and what she had said. God knows how pitiful she would have made Dani seem. She had only asked Alyssa for help one other time and had been shut down that time as well. She was shocked when Alyssa called her back with the job offer.

She hoped Rocco didn't ask her about it because she didn't know what to say. She had the wrong impression of him he seemed nice, and she could see now why Gavin was so sweet. She didn't want to lie to Rocco, but she didn't want to piss off her sister and get fired either.

"You didn't have to clean. It's your day off." Rocco's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"The you cook, I clean method, always works go great though."

"Never heard of it, but I like it." He sat across from her. "I doubt Alyssa had you fill any of this out. I'm a lawyer so everything should be up and up, you know?"

He shuffled some different employee forms towards her, and she glanced at them.

"Here is another copy of this as well." He pushed a laminated sheet with a list of facts about Gavin and on the back, it had emergency numbers, directions to the grocery store, doctors, the nearest hospital, and other phone numbers to call.

"Oh, good, you guys do have one of these." She blurted out, then clamped her mouth shut.

"Alyssa didn't give you Mary's copy?"

"Uh, well, she was in a pretty big hurry, so..." Dani mumbled.

"What do you mean she was in a hurry? When did you get here?"

"Friday?" She winced. Was that right?

"Friday, and she left right away?"

"Uh...yeah." Dani bit her lip.

"Did you really need a place to stay? Or is she manipulating you or something?"

"Uh, no, I was about to get kicked out of my apartment." Dani said, feeling her face get warm.

"I know my wife. I don't believe for a second that she suddenly cares about a sister she hasn't seen once the entire time I've known her," he said meeting her direct gaze intensely.

Dani's eyes widened; how could Alyssa honestly have thought she would be able to slide anything past him anyway? Was he angry now with Alyssa and her? She gulped.

"Just tell me what happened, not what she told you to say," he softened his tone.

"I was about to get kicked out. I was just hoping she could lend me some money. I didn't like asking for help. I know how uncomfortable it probably made you the last time, but I was desperate. I never expected her to call me back with a job offer and a free place to stay. I don't know her motivations other than her New York trip, but it is helping me." Dani said slowly then took a long breath, biting back a plea not to fire her now before she signed the paperwork.

He sat there completely still for a few long seconds.

"What did she say when you called?"

"I told you; she offered me a deal I couldn't pass up."

"Not when she called you back, but when you called her the first time and asked for help?"

"She got a good laugh at my expense, and I felt stupid and hung up, okay," Dani snapped. "Are you done interrogating me?"

"I'm sorry." He let out a breath. "I just was thrown for a loop with this. I've never met you, and your mother isn't exactly a trustworthy type. I just wanted to make sure she wasn't; I don't know, I'm sorry, you must really think I'm a jerk, huh?"

"No, I get it, but ... I'm not like Alyssa or Katherine; she didn't blackmail me into taking the job or something, if that's what you think."

"I see that." He held his hands up. "I really am sorry."

"She ridiculed you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I had no idea you called or needed help. I would have helped you, Dani. I don't know what to say to her." He gritted his teeth, his jaw tensing.

"It's no big deal. I mean she called me back."

"Yes, it is a big deal. I'm upset that my wife represents us like that. I work hard, and I do that so no one in either of our families has to suffer." He said, his eyes wide and sincere.

"It's okay. I'm not going to judge you based on what Alyssa does. Just as long as you promise the same," she offered.

"That's a deal." He grinned his eyes lighting up just slightly.

"So, you do want the job, right?" he asked, raising his eyebrows, an earnest expression on his face. "I hope so because Gavin really likes you, but no pressure; if you just need a loan and want to go, let me know. Lys is not really a picnic to live with."

"In all honesty, all a loan would get me is a few more months in the crappy apartment I'd been hanging onto for so long. In a town full of bad memories. Like I said, Alyssa's motivations may have been self-serving, but this is a second chance for me, and Gavin is so wonderful. I couldn't ask for a better job." She said smiling softly at the end.

"And your sister?"

"I can handle her," Dani said with determination.

He laughed, shaking his head. "All right, to the boring forms, fill 'em out whenever and just leave them on the counter or something."

"Gotcha boss," she grinned at him, relaxing now that she knew she could keep the job.

"Is the salary okay? What'd she offer you?" He started looking at a form he had taken back from her.

"It's more than enough."

"Sun City is expensive."

"This is nearly my rent before, in a week here. Plus, I'm getting free room and board after all."

"You'll want to go out on your time off, plus you'll have things for yourself to shop for and whatnot, and the city is spendy. I'm going to bump it up." He shrugged and filled in eight hundred weekly as her eyes widened.

"Did she give you anything upfront to cover the weekend expenses?"

"She gave me a credit card. I used it for the zoo, gas, and dinner," she admitted.

"Oh, good. That's the card specifically for Gavin's nanny. Use it all you like." He motioned to a wall near the door where a cute wicker letter organizer was hanging on the wall. It had three pockets with letters embroidered, A, D, and M.

"Mary made this shortly after she started with us." I'll stick a D post-it over the M one for you. We'll put any of your mail or paychecks in your pocket. Any receipts from the credit card, just leave in mine at the end of the day."

"Okay."

"We'll have to talk scheduling with Lys when she returns, but this week should be easy. I'm off for the next few days. So, you can do whatever you want. I work Thursday and Friday though," he said. "I usually leave around 8, and it can vary when I'm done. I always kept Mary informed, though. I'll just do that with you?"

"Yeah, that works." She was still mystified over the amount of money she was suddenly making. It seemed so surreal.

"When are we going?" Gavin raced into the room holding Rocco's shoes.

Rocco laughed, "soon, Bud."

"You ready for a tour of Sun City, courtesy of the Romano men?" he asked turning his attention back to Dani.

"I can't think of two better tour guides," she agreed with an easy smile.