Sammy and Ilna - thanks for your encouragement on this one. Still thankful for you. Every day.

RealMcRollers and readers - thanks again To every single one of you. Extra hugs to those who took the time out of their Thanksgiving to spend with our Real World family.

First and Always

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Catherine asked Danny as she kissed Angie's cheek, nose and chin for the second time, saying, "I got—" each body part to make the baby giggle.

"Are you kidding?" he countered. "You hosted a dinner of Nonna proportions yesterday. That definitely earns you a little downtime, and I need to discuss strategy for next year's game with my beautiful niece. What with my daughter, girlfriend and ex wife volunteering at the cheer team's fundraiser, Angie and I have all afternoon to start on the leftovers and discuss what Uncle Danno's getting her for Christmas." When he expertly slung the diaper bag over a shoulder his wince was barely visible.

"Still a little sore there, Uncle Danno?" Steve snorted from next to Catherine where he, too was giving Angie a goodbye kiss.

"You speak for yourself," his best friend retorted as he took the baby from Catherine. "You're looking a little rough around the edges too, my friend." He buckled his goddaughter into her carrier. "Your daddy's just as sore as the rest of us, even if he's too pig-headed to admit it."

Catherine rolled her eyes. Turning to see Cammie settling on her bolster bed for a nap since her tiny human was off on an outing, she grinned and said, "Have fun with Uncle Danno, sweetie. Be a good girl." She touched one little hand and released it with a finger-wave.

"She's always good, Cath," Danny said as he slipped out the door. "Because your husband's outstanding luck has surfaced again … and she clearly takes after you."

Instead of a retort, Steve smirked proudly at his partner's parting comment as he set the alarm. He kissed his wife as she patted his chest with a laugh. "C'mon, I know you're, ahem, 'not that sore', but I'm thinking some pancakes will make you feel better."

"Pancakes with you make everything better." He nodded decisively. "I'm not sore," he repeated the phrase from the previous night even as Catherine grinned and his eyes lit. "How about I prove it?" He kissed her passionately. "Again."

She returned his grin with a saucy one of her own. "Race you to the kitchen!"

"Hmmmm," Catherine shifted from lying on top of Steve and tucked into his side. "Now aren't you glad we un-syruped … or is it de-syruped … the kitchen before coming upstairs?"

He answered without opening his eyes. "Another brilliant idea, Lieutenant."

"A practical one, because after the soaking tub activities you wouldn't want to move, let alone clean up the kitchen till later."

"On the contrary…" He opened his eyes and motioned over their naked bodies. "Just moved quite a bit."

She chuckled. "Not exactly the kind of moving I was talking about, Commander. Besides, now we don't have to go downstairs." She stretched to kiss his cheek. "We can take a nap. A long nap. And not have to face a syrupy kitchen afterwards."

"Mmm, true." Steve ran a hand languidly up her side. "And we can resume more important activities on partially naked Friday."

"That a new thing? Partially naked?" She chuckled sleepily. "Will I have to get partially dressed?"

"Uh uh, nope. Partially naked Friday does not mean we're partially naked," he was quick to clarify. "It means we're only naked for part of the day. Therefore: partially naked Friday."

"Ah, okay, then." She giggled and nodded against his shoulder. "And it sounds way better than we'll be naked for as long as the baby is out with one of her admirers day." She felt him smile when he placed a kiss on her head.

After a few moments of quiet contentment, Catherine spoke softly. "Wasn't yesterday amazing? I think Angie loved her first Thanksgiving."

"She absolutely loved it; she tried mashed potatoes, was the star of the day, and once she got used to having so much family here at once, she relaxed and enjoyed all the attention. Did you see how she interacted with everyone?"

Catherine nodded her agreement. "I thought Joan was going to burst when we said she could feed Angie her very first mashed potatoes."

"Lots of firsts this year." Steve laced their fingers and rested their hands on his chest. "First Thanksgiving in a while we're not on the air mattress."

"True," she said with a soft smile, remembering how happy his suggestion of buying it had made her because it meant a lot more family holidays were in their future. "Although we spent some interesting nights on that thing."

"Thanks to your sound checks." He smiled. "And it's the first time your parents and Grandma Ang won't be leaving after the holiday."

"First time I'll be with them for Christmas in so long. I can't wait." He couldn't miss her joyful tone. "And they'll be here for Angie's first Christmas."

"Between your parents, Carrie and Danny, we may need a storage pod for her gifts," Steve chuckled.

"We'll work on that." She squeezed his fingers. "Maybe we can ask them to get one or two things and donate to Shop with a Cop in Angie's name?"

"That's a great idea. I'm not sure about getting them to stick to the the one or two gifts, but the donation is perfect."

She nodded and sighed, snuggling closer against him.

"Sleepy?"

"Definitely nap time."

He moved his left arm to rest his fingers on the small of her back. "Sleep, then." He made slow, gentle circles on her skin.

"You, too. Replenish your strength, Commander, partially naked day has hours left. You'll need it." Her expression was drowsy and content when she lifted her head to see his eyes.

Steve tilted down and kissed her. "Right back at you, Rollins."

"Know what?" she said before resuming her position; head on his shoulder, body molded against his side.

"Hmm? What?"

"I'm thankful for so much, but ..." She placed her left hand over his heart. "First and always, I'm thankful for you."

He took a breath and cupped her cheek. "From the first day we spent together you've been the number one reason I'm thankful. I'm so thankful for you, Cath." He traced her jaw with his thumb. "Always."

# End thanks for reading

Find all our stories (in chronological order!) on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll

Or in the McRoll in the REAL World community here on fanfiction dot net Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com

You can join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with: Add me, please! in the subject line. Or just drop us a line to say hi! We love hearing from our readers.

And find me on Twitter asking your opinions on all things McRoll in the REAL World! at Mari21763 and add #REALMcRoller