(A/N): Okay, so after the positive reactions to my oneshot, I found myself creating a longer one, with a lot of ideas mingling in my head. So, here's what you need to know. Dani divorced Ray when Lindsay was eight and Ray Jay was ten, due to the same reasons, essentially, as in the show. She met the Hawks accidentally, not by sleeping with Matt. She met Nico soon after meeting the Hawks, and they have a four year old, Victoria. They also have a pretty good relationship with Juliette. There, that's all I can think of right now.

So, this is set in about season 1 of the show in the sense of events. Just please, let me know what you think and if I should continue or delete it.

Rated T for language and themes such as warzones and domestic abuse and such, so really, don't read it if you don't want to.

I don't own Necessary Roughness or its characters, only Victoria and any others I make up along the way. Any and all mistakes are mine.

Family

Chapter 1

Doctor Danielle Sienna 'Dani' Careles smiled as she watched her husband of three years, Dominic Eugene 'Nico' Careles, push their four year old daughter, Victoria Charlotte 'Tori' Careles on the swing in their expansive back garden of their large, five bedroomed home in Long Island. Both Dani and Nico worked together for the New York Hawks, having met six years ago just after Dani's divorce from her then husband, Ray Santino. Six years earlier, Dani's other two children, ten year old Ray Jay and eight year old Lindsay, had chosen for their dad to have sole custody and refused to have any contact whatsoever with Dani. It had hurt the woman deeply that her children wanted nothing to do with her, but even six years later, she had kept their bedrooms exactly the same as the day they'd left, and she never allowed Victoria into their rooms either. The four year old had her own room next door to the master bedroom that Dani and Nico shared, with one guest room remaining clear for visitors, which mainly consisted of Nico's 'niece', Juliette Pittman.

Dani watched her daughter happily. Whilst she may still long for her other children, she loved Victoria unconditionally, just as she did with the other two. Victoria had long raven curls to her lower back and expressive hazel eyes that were a perfect mixture of Dani's and Nico's. She was extremely smart, and had to be sent to a gifted school instead of a regular school where she was studying at about sixth grade level already. Despite being incredibly smart, she didn't act as though she was so much smarter than everyone else. She was content with being a child, and experiencing things any normal child would. She also insisted on staying home with her parents instead of boarding at the school, as she was happier at home. As she put it, she'd rather be happy than smart.

Nico looked up from pushing his daughter to return Dani's smile with one of his own. They'd married when Victoria had been a year old, Dani not wanting to get married for the same reasons that she'd gotten married the first time. Nico had understood that, and so put it on hold until Victoria had been born before proposing to Dani. They'd married on a beach with Victoria, Dani's mom Angela, her sister Ronnie, Nico's uncle Matthew, his sister Juliana, Juliana's husband Tomas, and their five year old son, Dom, named after Nico. It was a beautiful day, and a wedding photo of Dani, Nico and Victoria hung over the fireplace where originally the Santino family portrait had hung. Dani had gotten rid of that portrait so that it wouldn't confuse Victoria, though it had only been stored in the garage. Pictures of Dani with Ray Jay and Lindsay hung all throughout the house however, and Dani had made sure that Victoria knew all about her brother and sister.

The sound of a car pulling into the driveway had Dani and Nico sharing confused looks. Dani had no patients for the day, and Nico had taken the say off as well so that they could both spend the day in its entirety with their daughter. Nico sent Dani a silent look that told her that he would go to the door whilst Dani stayed in the back garden with Victoria.

They passed one another silently, their hands brushing one another in a small gesture of affection as Nico disappeared inside the house and Dani reached her daughter. Victoria looked up at Dani with a wide smile. "Look mommy, I can push myself on the swing now." Victoria told her sweetly, providing a short demonstration that brought a proud smile to Dani's face as she brushed a few stray raven locks from the four year old's face.

"I love you Tori." She told her daughter, emotion making her breath catch in her throat. Victoria's eyes locked on hers, the child's expression one of worry.

"Mommy, I love you too, but what's wrong?" She asked. "Were you thinking of something sad, like maybe my brother and sister again?"

"No sweetie, nothing like that." Dani assured her, moving to sit on the swing beside Victoria's. "I'm just a little worried, that's all."

"You mean because daddy went to answer the door for whoever was in the car?" Victoria checked, blinking a little. "Daddy will be fine, mommy. Bad people wouldn't make it so obvious that they were here." She concluded as Nico appeared at the back door, looking shocked. Immediately Dani stood up and picked her daughter up into her arms, ready to fight or flee should she have to.

"Dani, you… er…. need to come inside. I'll get Tori." Nico took Victoria gently from Dani's arms as she approached the back steps, pressing a chaste kiss to Dani's lips. "They'll explain everything in there. I just need to make Tori a sandwich. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."

"No." Victoria squirmed in Nico's arms until he set her down on her feet. "You and mommy will face whatever it is together. I will go upstairs to my room and wait for one of you to come and get me and explain it to me then. You can take on the world as long as you're together." She told them with a shrug, bounding into the house and running upstairs before either adult could think of a decent reply.

"Nico, what is going on?" Dani asked in a low voice as they both stepped back inside the house. Nico sighed and pressed another kiss to her temple.

"It's the kids' social worker. And the kids. They would only speak to you." Nico explained briefly, grabbing Dani's waist as it looked as though her legs would give out on her.

"My… kids…? Ray Jay and Lindsay?" Dani checked faintly. Nico nodded briskly.

"C'mon Dani, you need to stay strong. I will be right here with you until you tell me to leave."

"Never." Dani insisted as she kissed him swiftly. "Where are they?"

"In the living room." Nico led his wife to the living room and watched carefully as three heads swivelled round to stare at them as they entered. In the room sat two teenagers and a woman in her mid-fifties. The woman wore a grey business suit with a lilac shirt and carried a briefcase that was currently next to her legs.

Dani instantly focused on the teenagers. Sixteen year old Ray Jay Santino had caramel coloured hair sticking up messily from his head and the same chocolate eyes as Dani, whilst fourteen year old Lindsay Santino had long dark brown curls and lighter hazel eyes, both children a pretty even mix of their parents. Dani wanted to cry. It had been far too long since she'd last seen them, and though she'd told them that should they ever want to come back that they'd be more than welcome, Dani had honestly never really expected it to happen, convinced that her kids hated her too much for that to happen. She glanced at Nico, hoping he could tell that her expression asked if what she was seeing was real. Nico read her easily and gave her a reassuring nod.

The woman stood woodenly. Dani recognised the woman from six years earlier, as she had been the one to deal with the Santino case from the start. "Dr Santino, I don't know if you remember me. I'm Rita Davies from the Social Services. I'm your children's case worker."

Dani nodded half-heartedly. "Yes, of course I remember you, Ms Davies. Uh, would you like tea, or coffee maybe?"

"Coffee would be good, thank you." Rita nodded. Dani turned to Nico, who nodded and left the room to make three coffees, one for Rita, one for Dani and one for himself.

Once he'd left the room, Dani sat carefully in the armchair nearest to the couch that her children were sat on, not taking her eyes off of them for even a moment. She wanted every moment she could get, still not sure why they were even here. "Not to sound rude, as I'm more than glad about it, but why are you here?" She asked cautiously.

Rita glanced at the children, and then when it became clear that they weren't going to offer information, too busy staring at their mother, she spoke up. "The children no longer wish to reside with their father, and they also wished to see you, so I brought them here to see you whilst discussions can be made as to their living arrangements."

"Why?" Dani asked, her brain wondering just what her ex-husband could possibly have done to make her children see him in his true colours, enough to not want to live with him anymore. "Last time I saw you kids, you were pretty set on living with your dad forever."

"Things change." Ray Jay shrugged, not wanting to talk much about it. The vague answers always worked with their dad and he never pushed any deeper. Unfortunately, after so long away, they had forgotten just what their mother could be like. They'd also forgotten just how warm and caring the woman was, even simply by being in the same room as them.

"You may want to elaborate." Nico commented as he re-entered the room with three mugs of steaming coffee, handing one to Rita before walking over to Dani and handing one down to his wife, who thanked him with a smile. "Being vague doesn't work with your mom."

Dani nodded her agreement with her husband's statement. "True. So, one of you, tell me what happened."

"Well…" Lindsay began hesitantly, looking unsure. "Dad was great for a while, let us do whatever, until about four years ago. He came home one night completely wasted, muttering something about whores, babies and things being stolen. We still don't have a clue what he was talking about. Uh, after that, he started coming down harder on us, and dating all the time with loads of different women. He married one last year, Tallulah, I think her name is. Only, the girlfriends didn't stop after he got married. We asked him about it and he yelled at us, told us to mind out own business. We got thinking that everything he said in the divorce about you mustn't have been true, and then…"

"And then what?" Nico prompted when it became clear that Dani was still trying to process Lindsay's words.

"Well, we followed him one day, where he met his girlfriend in a park. With her seven year old son." Ray Jay told them haltingly. "He had a son with his girlfriend whilst he was still married to you mom."

Dani blinked in shock whilst Nico placed a hand on her shoulder in a display of comfort. Lindsay and Ray Jay shared a confused look. Neither teenager had expected a man to open the front door when they'd arrived, especially not one that looked so comfortable in their house, but then they hadn't really known what to expect when they'd told the social worker that they wanted to go home after six years of refusing to hear anything about their mother or her life. "Oh." Dani managed to say. "Well… did you confront him again?"

"Kind of." Lindsay answered. "We were going to when Tallulah announced that she was pregnant too. We asked dad if he was going to tell Tallulah about his other kid, and he flew into a rage, telling us that we belonged to him and we'd shut up if we knew what was good for us. We heard him yelling at Tallulah after, and we thought… we thought we heard him hit her." Lindsay finished quietly. "We told Rita everything and asked to be brought home."

"Thing is though mom, if dad hit Tallulah, we thought… maybe he'd hit you too." Ray Jay said quietly. Dani felt the colour drain from her face. That was one aspect of her first marriage that she'd never wanted any of her children to know about. Ray would hit her on a daily basis, but at the beginning she'd been too blinkered by what she believed to be love to leave him, and then she'd stayed for her kids' sakes. When she'd found out he'd been cheating on her and finally kicked him out, she'd tried to keep the kids from him, but without proclaiming to the world what he'd done to her, she couldn't hold onto them, and he'd managed to convince them that she wouldn't look after them as well as he could, though she'd never worked out how he'd convinced them of that.

Nico's hand tightened on Dani's shoulder. She'd told him about the domestic abuse about six months into their relationship, just before they'd found out she was pregnant with Victoria. He would've killed the man slowly and painfully if he thought it would've made Dani feel any better, but the Santino children loved their dad and Dani loved her kids, so he didn't, no matter how much he wanted to.

"Mom, are you okay?" Lindsay asked cautiously.

Dani blinked before throwing her eldest daughter a forced smile. "Of course I am, Linds. Now, uh, before we decide anything, I do need to tell you some things. I tried to tell you as they happened, but you, uh, didn't want to know." Dani cleared her throat. She could do this. "I remarried. I am Dr Danielle Careles now." She squeezed Nico's hand. "This is my husband, Nico. We've been married for three years." Nico sent her a warm smile, his expression giving her the confidence to be able to tell them everything. "The picture above the fireplace is of our wedding day." She pointed at it, making the children and the social worker turn to look at the photo in unison.

"Who's the baby?" Lindsay asked absently, still staring at the photo. Both Ray Jay and Lindsay were focused on how happy their mom looked, how secure and beautiful she looked standing next to her new husband, the baby being held up by both of them.

"That's Tori. Victoria Charlotte Careles. She's our four year old daughter." Dani told them slowly, waiting to see how they'd react. She loved Victoria, as did Nico, and they were proud of their daughter. She wasn't going to pretend Victoria didn't exist to her other children. They and Victoria both deserved that she tell the complete truth as far as they were concerned at least. Dani wasn't going to admit to anything regarding her relationship with Ray to the teenagers, or the four year old either.

"You have another kid? Mom, how could you?!" Lindsay exclaimed loudly, jumping up from her seat on the couch, closely followed by Ray Jay, who didn't look quite as furious as his sister. Dani opened her mouth to answer when there was a crash from upstairs and both Dani and Nico jumped to their feet instinctively.

"You go. She better not have built another volcano." Nico told Dani, amusement in his voice. About a month earlier, Victoria had built a papier-mâché volcano that was hollow inside, and then filled it with vinegar and baking soda, watching as it had bubbled everywhere. The landing carpet still smelt of the mixture a month later. Dani nodded and kissed his cheek as she ran off up the stairs to check on Victoria, leaving Nico with the Santino teens and the social worker.

Ray Jay placed a hand on Lindsay's shoulder. "Linds, we have been gone six years, and we were awful to her before we left. She probably thought we'd never be back."

"She's just gone and forgotten about us!"

"No she hasn't." Nico told them, ignoring the glare Lindsay sent his way. "Come with me." He led them out to the hallway close to the stairs. Every photo going up the stairs contained either one or both of the teens when they were younger, and the multi-photo frame had one picture of Victoria, and another one of Dani, Nico and Victoria together, but the rest were of Ray Jay or Lindsay, or Dani, Ray Jay and Lindsay together. "She loves you both so much, but she doesn't know how to react, because she doesn't truly understand what you're doing here." Nico's phone rang and he bit back a curse as he looked at the caller ID, answering with a sharp, "Nico." He rolled his eyes at the person on the other end of the phone. "Terrence, I don't care. You know the doctor and I have the day off." He listened for a moment and sighed. "Look, I will talk to her about it, but if you've landed yourself in jail again..." He sent a brief smile at the teens. "Alright. Be here in three hours. Not a minute sooner. I mean it Terrence. Bye." He hung up with another sigh before turning back to Lindsay and Ray Jay. "This will show just how much your mom missed you." He walked slowly upstairs and led them to the two bedrooms that had been theirs before they'd left. "Look inside. Dani!" He called out, waiting until his wife poked her head out of Victoria's room.

"What's going on, Nico?"

"Terrence will be here in three hours, apparently. He has had another 'crisis' and needs to talk it out."

"Ah, right. Well, as always, I'll do what I can for TK." Dani replied with a warm smile. "Tori was trying to rearrange her desk and dropped a book. No volcanoes today."

"Good." Nico gestured to the teenagers. "I was about to show them their rooms." Dani blinked a little in surprise but nodded all the same.

"Uh, alright then." Dani went back inside the room as Ray Jay's curiosity bubbled over.

"TK, as in Terrence King, wide receiver for the New York Hawks?!" Ray Jay exclaimed excitedly.

Nico nodded warily. "Yes. I am Head of Security for the Hawks, and Dani, uh, your mom, is team therapist. We met at work about six years ago now."

"That is so cool." Ray Jay commented, opening the door to his room and gaping in surprise. He'd thought that his mother would clear out their rooms, but instead it looked like a relic of his ten year old existence. His mother hadn't changed a thing. A similar gasp came from Lindsay as she opened up her door too. She gazed around the room, eyes welling at the knowledge that her mother hadn't stopped caring even after so long.

Nico stepped back silently and made his way to Victoria's room, where he found Dani sat on the floor with Victoria, talking to the four year old quietly. Both looked up when he cleared his throat. "Is everything okay in here?" He asked, though he was fairly certain he knew the answer.

"Its fine, daddy. Mommy explained everything to me. Can I meet my brother and sister please?"

Dani and Nico exchanged looks, but neither could think of a reason not to. They'd deal with the potential fallout afterwards. Taking Dani's hand and helping her to her feet, Nico took Victoria's hand with his free one, leading the two females he cared for the most in the entire world onto the landing where the Santino children stood, having finished their perusal of their rooms.

Dani stepped forwards, nervously biting her lip. "Ray Jay, Linds, this is Tori. Tori, this is Ray Jay and Lindsay." Victoria let go of her parents' hands and walked forwards steadily until she was stood directly in front of Lindsay and Ray Jay. She smiled warmly up at them.

"Hi, I'm Tori."

Ray Jay shot Lindsay a look, telling her silently to be nice to the child, before crouching down to be on level with the little girl. "Hi, Tori, I'm Ray Jay. I'm your brother."

"I know." Victoria replied with a shrug. "I've always known."

Lindsay practically fell to her knees next to Ray Jay. "How?"

"Mommy and daddy told me about you. Well, mainly mommy. She always got really sad 'cause she couldn't see you guys anymore." Victoria cocked her head to one side and frowned a little. "Why are you back? Mommy said you didn't like her no more."

"Tori, I never said that." Dani commented from her spot beside Nico, who squeezed her hand gently. Truthfully, Dani had only told her daughter that her other children no longer wished to remain with her, and preferred it with their father, but Victoria had deduced the real meaning behind her mother's words.

Victoria shrugged, still facing the teenagers. "I won't let you hurt my mommy again."

"She's our mom too." Lindsay pointed out, feeling mean for arguing back with a four year old, especially when Ray Jay elbowed her in the side for using such an abrupt tone with the child.

Victoria nodded. "I know, but you didn't want her anymore. I don't get why. She's the best mommy ever. She loves all three of us, but I will make sure she don't get hurt."

"That's my job, Tori." Nico teased, trying to relieve the tension in the air. Dani sent him a grateful smile, but their eyes immediately strayed back to the three children in the middle of the landing.

"We don't intend to hurt mom." Ray Jay assured Victoria in a low, even voice. "We realised we were stupid to leave the way we did, so we came back to say sorry and to ask for another chance."

Victoria watched him closely before nodding slightly and settling her gaze onto Lindsay. "And you?"

"Same as Ray Jay, though I hadn't thought she'd get a whole new family without us." Lindsay muttered mutinously. Victoria glared at her.

"Mommy didn't get a new family. She just made the first one bigger to include me and daddy. I don't like you very much, but mommy loves you so I'll put up with you." She looked back at Ray Jay. "You're okay. I'll see if I like you in time." She then turned and walked away from the teens back to her parents. Lifting up her arms, she waited for Dani to pick her up before hugging her mother around the neck and burying her face in Dani's hair. "I love you mommy."

"I love you too, sweetheart." Dani assured the four year old as she hugged her back. "Did you want to use the laptop today for your school work?"

Victoria nodded into Dani's shoulder. "Please. Miss Venglash wanted an essay in by Monday so that she could see if I needed to be moved up again."

"Oh? What's the subject this time?" Nico asked, gently rubbing Dani's back with soothing circles and keeping one eye focused on the Santino children. He didn't like the attitude they'd given their mother just five seconds after walking back into her life.

"Respiratory cycle and problems that can happen in the cycle." Victoria told them. "I got two books from the library, but I thought you and mommy could help me a bit."

"Anything, honey, you know that." Dani told her. She then looked over at Lindsay and Ray Jay. "Do you two have homework?" She nodded at their silence, giving away that they clearly did have homework that they didn't want to do. "You can do it in the living room with us three then." She informed them, knowing that Nico would keep them all company whilst she had to talk to TK.

To Be Continued…?