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Where Danny gets Jealous

Danny leaned down to kiss the top of Kara's head, the only part of her visible under the bundle of blankets. "I'll be back by lunch. Do you need anything before I go?"

The only response was a slight groan as Kara pulled the blankets over her head. Danny grinned. He had already cracked a can of gingerale and put it next to the bed with a package of saltines, knowing that he was unlikely to get an intelligible answer from Kara this early in the morning. They had been practically living together for the past three months, and while they generally bumped along pretty well, it had quickly become apparent that Kara was not a morning person. Unlike Danny, who rarely slept past seven even when he was up all night, Kara could stay curled up in bed until ten. And being pregnant seemed to have pushed that deadline closer to noon. Danny sometimes wondered how Kara managed to function on the Nathan James when she had an early shift. Lots of coffee, he assumed, something that she had given up since learning that she was pregnant.

Slinging his skis over his shoulder, Danny headed downstairs to join the guys. Chances were that he would be back before Kara was even out of bed. As Danny approached the lobby he was surprised, and somewhat annoyed, to see Caro standing next to their father chatting.

"I thought you were going shopping with the girls?" Danny said as neutrally as possible. It was way too early in the morning for a fight with his sister.

Caro rolled her eyes. "Not until eleven. Can you believe it? They're going to sleep through the best part of the day."

"You'd be sleeping too if you were up all night with a teething baby," Eddie countered. He was leaning against the wall, his eyes closed, Waldron Howe standing next to him. "The only reason I'm awake right now is that Tyler wouldn't stop kicking me in the head."

"Okay, Amber gets some slack. And it's not like I want to hang out with Waldron's flavor of the week anyway," Caro grumbled.

"How old is this one?" Danny asked, directing the question towards Caro even though Waldron was standing only feet away. They all ragged on Waldron about his revolving door of girlfriends. Since getting a position as an adjunct professor, Waldron had been spending the majority of his time with college students and the age of his "dates" had decreased accordingly.

"For the record, I do have standards," Howe protested good-naturedly. "She's twenty-two. Her name is Holly. And she's not in any of my classes."

"But most importantly, she's gorgeous," Caro snapped.

"Of course." Howe gave Caro a wolfish grin. "But I'd drop her in a second if you said the word, Caro."

"In your dreams, man-slut. Sleeping with you would be like sleeping with half the U.S. population. And do not call me that."

Waldron grinned unrepentantly. "Speaking of hotties, when are we going to meet the new arm candy Danny?"

Danny blinked at him. "Kara? She's sleeping."

"Sleeping or puking?" Caro asked tartly.

"Wait, was there a party that I wasn't invited to?" Waldron demanded. "I wondered where everyone was last night."

"Kara is sleeping," Danny said firmly. "She's not a morning person."

"Are we going skiing or not?" Chris asked, interrupting the banter.

"I, for one, am skiing," Danny replied. Slinging his arm around his brother's shoulders, the two started out the door. "And I want an update on your college applications too."

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Three hours later Danny opened the door to their room to find Kara curled up before the fire, blanket draped around her shoulders, her loose hair framing her face as she looked down at her phone. Glancing up, she set her phone to the side and began to untangle herself from the blanket.

"How was skiing?"

"Cold," Danny replied, grinning at her as he swung the door shut and dumped his equipment and parka. "Any ideas on how I could warm up?"

Kara arched an eyebrow at him, her head tipped to the side as though she were considering her options, before sauntering towards him, a sultry smile on her lips. Stopping in front of him, Kara trailed her fingers down his chest until she reached the bottom of his sweater, hands slipping underneath to trace the waistband of his pants before pulling the shirt over his head. "I have a couple of ideas. We have to lose this first, though."

Danny wrapped his arms around her waist, hands slipping under her t-shirt as he feathered kisses along her throat. "I can think of a few things you won't need in a minute."

Chuckling, Kara wrapped her arms around his neck, her hands tangling in his hair as she pulled him in for a lingering kiss, leaning into him until there was no space between their bodies. Without breaking the kiss, Danny tumbling them down on the bed, rolling so she ended up on top of him. Smiling against his lips, Kara's hands dropped to his belt buckle.

Only to be stopped by the sound of a knock on the door, followed by a woman's voice. "Danny?"

Kara quickly rolled to the side, sitting up. "Is that your sister?"

"Yes." Danny groaned.

Damn it.

"Now is not a good time, Caroline," he called, hoping against hope that she would go away.

"If you're having sex or something I can go hang out with Mom until you're finished." There was a short pause and Danny thought she might actually be leaving. "How long do you think you will be?"

A look of shock passed over Kara's face before she started giggling. Between peals of laughter she looked at Danny. "Is she serious?"

"Unfortunately yes." Danny rolled off the bed and made his way to the door, not bothering to pull his sweater back on. He yanked it open. "What the hell do you want?"

"I want to talk to you," Caro said seriously.

"So talk." Danny crossed his arms over his chest. Caro's games were getting very old very quickly.

"Alone." Caro looked at him, tipping her head towards the hallway.

But Danny was done trying to smooth things over with Caroline. "Look, say what you want to say. If it isn't something that you can say in front of Kara then I don't want to hear it."

Caro narrowed her eyes at him but Danny didn't budge. He had reached his limit with Caro's interference and outrageous behavior.

"Fine," Caro snapped, prancing past him into the room. Grabbing his sweater, Danny pulled it on as he watched Caro settle into the chair that Kara had vacated only minutes earlier. He was surprised when Caro turned towards Kara, who was sitting curled up against the headboard of the bed. "I wanted to apologize for last night. I didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable."

"What the hell where you thinking inviting Rebecca here?" Danny demanded. "Of course that was going to make people uncomfortable."

"I just wanted the two of you to talk. Not necessarily get back together, but at least to resolve things. She's my best friend. You're my brother. I want the two of you to be able to sit in the same room without fighting. I want to be able to plan a party and invite both of you. I don't want to have to pick one of you or the other. And I think that Eddie and Tom and Waldron want the same thing. It sucks when two people you care about can't get along."

Danny ground his teeth, fighting the urge to strangle his sister. "Rebecca and I have resolved things. We've both moved on. We're fine. If there was anyone causing a problem last night it was you. Or maybe Tom – I still don't know why he's involved in this."

"Really?" Caro scoffed. "You have no problem hanging out with Rebecca and her new boyfriend?"

"Not at all," Danny replied with a shrug. "Rebecca and I broke up a year ago. We've both moved on. Besides, jealousy is a useless emotion."

Caro narrowed her eyes. "Then prove it. Tonight after dinner we all get drinks. You, me, Kara and the whole crowd – Rebecca, Dennis, Eddie, Amber, Tom, Waldron and his flavor-of-the-week."

Danny hesitated. If he said no, Caro would throw it in his face. But the run-in with Rebecca last night had definitely been awkward and he didn't want to force Kara back into that situation again. Plus, he didn't entirely trust Caro. She sounded sincere but given her recent antics…

"We can do that."

Danny's eyes shot to Kara. Had she really just agreed to his sister's insane suggestion? "What?"

"Wonderful!" Ignoring Danny's question completely, Caro jumped up from the chair. "We're meeting at the bar at ten so people can ski tonight if they want."

Skirting around Danny, Caro slid out the door, popping her head back to add one last thing. "Oh, and Amber said no jeans so hope you brought a suit."

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Just before they reached the lodge bar, Danny stopped, pulling Kara to a halt before him.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked, his fingers threading through her loose hair. Even though they had been on shore for months now, he still found the sight tantalizing. She looked so different, so much younger and more vulnerable, than she had on the Nathan James in her uniform with her hair pulled back severely.

"I'm looking forward to meeting the rest of your friends, Danny," Kara replied, hands against his chest as she leaned into him. "Well, not Tom. He was rather unpleasant actually. But Eddie and Amber were lovely. What did you say Waldron's girlfriend's name was again?"

"Don't bother remembering. It will be a different girl next week anyway." Danny snorted. He shifted closer to Kara, hands stroking her back. "Have I mentioned how much I like this dress?"

"You might have," Kara teased, smiling up at him as she tweaked the collar of his shirt. "You don't look so bad yourself. I kind of like the corporate look."

Danny leaned down to give her a thorough kiss. "You know, we could.."

"Get a room already!" Eddie's cheerful voice shattered the moment. As Danny reluctantly raised his head, he saw Eddie and Amber approaching them, Waldron and Holly only a few steps behind.

"I need to see the ring!" Amber squealed.

Kara reached up to kiss Danny's cheek before she turned to Amber, holding out her hand. Danny smiled at the fuss Amber was making, wrapping his arms around Kara's waist, pulling her back against him. His eyes met Eddie's over the two women.

"Glad you decided to come tonight," Eddie said sincerely. Danny nodded, weighing the comment. Maybe Caro did have a point. Maybe his breakup with Rebecca had impacted his friends more than he realized. Maybe he had refused to see the awkward position that he put them in because it made him feel guilty. Guilty for breaking up not just a relationship, but also a circle of friends that had been together since high school.

"Although I am generally opposed to the institution of marriage, I have to admit that the two of you are cute together," Waldron said, clapping his hand on Danny's back. "Congratulations man."

Amber turned to Waldron with a grin. "Just you wait. One of these days you are going to meet someone and fall head over heels and completely forget all of your ideas about marriage."

Waldron gave a snort as he headed towards the bar. "What is everyone drinking? Scotch?"

"A Shirley Temple for me." Amber replied. At the stunned silence around her, she waved her hands over her chest. "Breastfeeding? Remember?"

"I'll have the same thing," Kara chimed in, slipping onto the bar stool next to Amber. "I've never had one. What's in it anyway?"

Glad that they had moved past the awkward "why aren't you drinking" part of the evening so easily, Danny turned to the bartender. "What do you have on draft?"

"You're sticking with beer?" Tom's voice was appalled. Danny shot a look at the man who had just arrived, Caro on his arm. Scowling, Danny made a mental note to ask Caro what was going on with her and Tom. Although he and Tom had been friends for years, the man seemed … different this visit. And not in a good way. Danny wanted Caro as far away from Tom as possible, a sentiment clearly shared by his parents. Before Danny could respond, Waldron collared Tom and dragged him off for a shot. From the corner of his eye, Danny noticed Rebecca and Dennis joining the group, stopping to talk to Caro. The conversation flowed naturally for a while as everyone gathered their drinks and headed towards the fireplace.

"Has anyone been following that crazy flu that is going around?" Holly asked. As far as Danny could tell it was her first attempt to participate in the conversation. He felt a twinge of sympathy for the girl. Even Amber had made little attempt to draw her into the conversation, knowing that she (like all of Waldron's women) wouldn't be around long.

"It's a serious concern in Asia," Waldron replied. "The school is recommending that students don't travel to the affected regions."

Amber shook her head. "It's so sad. There are stories of entire families dying. I can't imagine."

Eddie wrapped his arm around his wife. "I'm sure that people are working on a cure right now."

"The CDC has developed a vaccine actually," Rebecca said. Her eyes flickered over to Danny. "Danny and Kara probably already received their shot. The military got the first doses."

"Doesn't the testing process take longer than that?" Caro asked.

Dennis responded. "Not always. The FDA can work quickly when the risk is great."

Danny shrugged. "I got mine last week. We're always getting some shot or other. I hardly ask anymore."

Rebecca turned to Kara. "What about you, Kara?"

Kara looked at Danny, her confusion clear. Why did Rebecca care? "No, but I've been on administrative assignment since we returned from the arctic. So no risk of exposure."

"It's probably counter indicative for pregnancy," Caro whispered, leaning over Danny's shoulder.

"Will you give it up!" Danny snapped back.

"I saw you switch the champagne flutes, Danny," Caro hissed. "I taught you that trick, remember?"

Danny shot her a pointed look. At least nobody else had heard her. "We'll talk about this later."

"Everyone should get their vaccination as soon as possible." Dennis was speaking, his tone serious. "Amber's concern is valid. This flu is awful and it is bound to spread even with the quarantines."

"How do you know so much about the vaccine?" Holly asked.

"Dennis here works for the CDC," Rebecca responded. With a smile she clutched Dennis's arm. "Actually that's how we met. Children's Hospital, where I work, now has a CDC certified laboratory."

Danny added his congratulations to the group. Obtaining certification had been one of Rebecca's goals since she started at the hospital. Successfully completing the process was a huge boon. Watching Rebecca and Dennis, noticing how Rebecca smiled at the older man, Danny had to disagree with Caro's assessment of their relationship. The two of them actually seemed very well-suited, both in their careers and temperament. But more than that, Rebecca seemed to care about Dennis. And rather than feeling jealous, Danny felt happy. Happy that Rebecca had found someone else. Happy that both of them were moving on with their lives. Happy that all of them - including Rebecca - could be here together tonight.

Just then Danny's attention was caught by Kara and Waldron, who were standing by the fire chatting, Holly nowhere in sight. Waldron was giving Kara his best seductive smile as he leaned down towards her. "I'd love to sketch you sometime."

Danny felt his jaw drop. He had heard Waldron use that line a thousand times over the years on different women. "Are you seriously flirting with my wife?"

There was a moment of silence as all heads turned towards Danny. It took him a moment to realize what he had said, and then he winced. It wasn't so much that he had used the wrong word. It was that the wrong word had slipped so easily off his tongue. As though they were already married.

"Did you sneak off to the courthouse without telling us?" Caro demanded.

Kara laughed, her eyes twinkling as she planted herself on Danny's lap and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I promised Alisha that she could plan a wedding. That means you have to wait until at least February."

"I can handle February," Danny replied, smiling devilishly, his eyes glued on Kara.

"Good." Kara bit down on her lower lip, her thumb brushing his chin. "You know that Waldron was just telling me his best pick-up lines and not actually trying to pick me up, right?"

"Was he?" Danny asked dubiously. He had seen Waldron in action before. The man could, and often did, charm the pants right off a woman.

Kara grinned. Then she leaned forward, her hot breath against his ear. "You know, you're pretty cute when you're jealous."