Mari's notes - Sammy - always such fun to write with you! This was no exception. Sammy & Ilna, love you both - la famiglia, always!

REALMcRollers - we appreciate your love and feedback and are sending you Nonna hugs!

Mari-Co writing with you is always a blast. You & Ilna are the absolute best. Thanks for EVERYTHING! There are no two people I'd rather be on this ride with.

Sandy-what would I do without you?

REAL Worlders-I can never fully express what all your amazing support means to me. All I can say is that in our fourth calendar year your support and encouragement keeps me as enthusiastic as I was about this project day one.

Exceptional (1/1)

Catherine returned to the living room after checking on Angie, who was sleeping peacefully upstairs, and took a seat in the armchair across from the couch where Steve and Danny sat drinking a beer and relaxing after a long day. "I appreciate you bringing by the bread Nonna made while it's still warm, Danny, but I will reiterate once again that you don't need to bring a gift for Angie every time you come over."

"How could I resist?" He pointed to the new onesie he'd brought which was laying on the coffee table. It was green, emblazoned with the outline of the state of New Jersey, and read 'I get my AWESOME from my Uncle'.

"She's only wearing that when no one is around," Steve grumbled.

"I brought you homemade crusty bread," Danny reminded him.

"Maybe you should head back home and see what Nonna and Grace are baking now," Steve suggested with a teasing tone.

Danny shook his head. "No can do. They've got some surprise in the works and I've been banished for a few hours. Apparently, I can't be trusted not to peek and want a taste."

"Before you got here I was telling Steve that Cassie in the governor's press office has a baby just a little older than Angie. She's been forwarding me all kinds of interesting things and today it was a link to a quiz." She scrolled through her emails. "Here it is." She spun the tablet towards Steve. "How Much Do You Know About Child Development?"

"Piece of cake." Steve grinned. "Let's go. I got this."

"You have a nine-week-old." Danny snorted. "Your child has barely started developing."

"I bet I can get more right than you," Steve challenged.

Danny chuckled. "Why am I not surprised you'd turn parenting into a competition?"

"I'm not making it a competition I'm just very confident in my level of preparation," Steve said.

Catherine beamed proudly as Danny rolled his eyes.

"If you say so." The blonde detective rubbed his hands together. "Okay. Bring it."

Catherine crossed to the desk and when she returned handed each of the men a pen and sheet of paper, keeping the same for herself. "I'm in, too. Write your answers down and we'll score them later."

"What's the prize?" Steve asked.

She smiled. "Really? Already?"

"Absolutely. How about high score gets dinner at Alan Wong's? We haven't been there in months and I have a taste for some Garlic Black Pepper Keahole Lobster. "

"Danny?" She raised her brows.

"Fine with me," he said confidently. "I'll order the most expensive thing on the menu."

Steve made a scoffing sound. "What's the first question?"

Catherine began to read. "First question. All children reach developmental milestones at roughly the same time, and the process is smooth and continuous. True or false." She input her answers on her tablet as the partners wrote theirs down.

She'd glanced at the quiz earlier and knew the questions got tougher as they went along.

"Everyone ready to move on?" Both men nodded. "Question number two. What is the most important thing you can do to stimulate your child's brain development? a. Put your child in daycare or preschool b. Expose your child to a wide variety of new experiences that involve all her senses c. Put your child on a daily regimen of books, videos, CDs, and flash cards d. Give your child a daily multivitamin

Danny marked his answer immediately as did Catherine but out of the corner of her eye she could see Steve giving careful consideration to each the choices. She was confident he knew the correct answer but she also knew that when it came to what was best for Angie he fought his natural inclination to make quick, precise decisions and carefully considered each option to make sure he was doing the best for their daughter. Once she saw him make his selection she moved on.

"Third question, "Motor skills development normally occurs in which of the following patterns? a. No particular order b. Head to toe c. Toe to head d. Head, feet, hands, trunk" Steve smiled.

"That one is easy." He wrote his answer as Danny rolled his eyes. "Every book I've read says the same thing about that."

"You think because you read every scrap of everything on babies it's all in that brain of yours?" His best friend laughed. "I read it all too, and you know what? Grace had her own ideas. They all do."

They worked through questions about dealing with frustration, development of senses, and the reason babies wiggle and then landed on one that brought a twinkle to Catherine's eyes. She looked up at Steve with a little smile as she read, "It's important for babies to be naked once in a while because it… a. Prevents diaper rash b. Allows them to experience sensations all over their body c. Allows unobstructed movement of the whole body d. All of the above."

He returned her grin and wrote his answer.

"Keep that smirk, my 'father of an infant' friend." Danny pointed at him. "Because when you have a pre-teen or a teenager anything involving the word naked will make you into more of a maniac than you are."

Catherine smiled as Steve's expression sobered.

"That's years away …"

"Not as many as you think, Steven. Grace is ready to drive." Danny experienced a small, involuntary shudder at the thought. "How long ago does it seem to you that she was eight?"

Steve's mouth opened and closed without answering and Catherine shot him a sympathetic look. "Stop. Don't go there," she said with a tiny laugh. "You'll be fine."

"Hmm." Steve focused on the Pack and Play at the side of the sofa. "I'm still answering 'all of the above.'"

At the question on walking, Danny said, "Grace walked early," and wrote his response quickly.

"Joseph told me you walked and talked early, too. I can't remember how old Mary was when she started following me around," Steve chuckled, and Catherine warmed at the thought the memory didn't cloud his eyes as it once would have.

Danny noticed his best friend's expression as well and added, "I feel like Angela came out of the womb walking so she could chase me around and bust my chops even then." But he was smiling at the thought of his lifelong competition with his youngest sibling.

After a question about the development of speech patterns Catherine arrived at one that made her smile. "How many words does the average two-year-old know how to say? a. 50 words

b. 150 words c. 250 words d. 300 words wrong."

"They ask about an average two-year-old," Steve said as he tapped his pen against his paper. "Angie isn't going to be average. She's going to be brilliant like her mother. She'll know at least two-fifty by then," he said with assurance, "even if the books say it's less. I'm sure Grace knew a lot more than that, too."

Danny nodded. "She did. These numbers just don't apply to babies as bright as ours."

Steve marked his answer confidently. "Exactly."

Catherine smiled at the fact that the one thing the two men were always in agreement about was the brilliance and bright future of their daughters as she read the next question, "When do children first play with other children cooperatively? a. At birth b. At six months c. At one year d. At two years."

Danny snorted, "You're still learning that," to Steve, who scoffed back.

"He's always played very nicely with me," Catherine grinned and pointed when Danny held up a hand. "And you asked for that one." She laughed.

"Do not give me visuals, I beg you." He gave an exaggerated shudder. "And I'm saying two. Next question, please."

"Last one. Who is typically the first person to notice a development problem? a. The baby's parents b. The baby's doctor c. The baby's caregiver."

"Everybody ready for the answers," Catherine asked after she saw both men choose a response for the final question. "Good. All I have to do is hit submit and … here were go." She began to carefully read off the correct answers which now showed on her screen.

She knew both men so well she could tell by their expressions when they'd answered incorrectly. When she finished revealing the answers she looked at them expectantly.

"Okay, so I'm a little rusty at the baby thing," Danny said sheepishly. "I missed three."

Steve gave a small smile of relief. "Two! I win!"

"Are you sure?" Danny grabbed Steve's paper and scanned down the answers. "I can't believe it. I don't even think the one about how many words a two-year-old knows should count because our kids are clearly exceptional."

Catherine smiled indulgently.

"And for that matter there's a lot of disagreement over the best age to start solid foods so I don't think that one should count either," Steve said excitedly. "Take those away and I got a perfect score."

Catherine smiled indulgently. "We're not disqualifying any questions."

"Doesn't matter. Danny missed three and I missed two. I win!" Steve pumped his fist in the air.

"Actually," Catherine turned her tablet towards the men with a wide smile. "I win! I only missed one."

Both men stared at the screen and shook their heads in disbelief.

"Which one did you miss?" Steve asked.

Catherine pointed and they both laughed when they saw it was the question about how many words a two-year old has in their vocabulary.

"What can I say," she grinned. "We know exceptional when we see it."

THE END

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