Flack had barely shifted his SUV into park before Noelle flipped down the passenger side visor and was studying her own reflection in the mirror. He shut off the ignition then glanced over at his girlfriend, catching the scowl on her face. "What's wrong?"

She sighed. "They're going to take one look at me and know."

"What?"

"Mark and Jen, they're going to know what we were doing last night."

"Don't forget about this morning," he smirked. When she turned and glared at him in response, his own expression became a little incredulous. "C'mon, Noelle. Look, I don't buy that whole thing that someone can tell you just had sex by looking at you. Besides – and I really hate to break this to ya, sweetheart – Mark and Jen thought we were sleeping together a long time before last night."

She rolled her eyes. "You're really not helping."

"As near as I can see, the only evidence that we had mind-blowing sex last night is this hickey right here." He reached over and ran a finger over a small bruise on her collarbone. "And there are a million different ways you could've got that. And you know, you could've hidden it if you hadn't worn that top."

She glanced down at the green halter top she had pulled on with her khaki capris pants. "It's hot," she said simply of the sticky, August morning.

"Tell me about it," he kidded. He chuckled when she scowled again, leaning over and kissing her lips gently. "C'mon. If they saw the car pull up, they're going to be more curious about what we're doin' right now than why we hardly got any sleep last night."

Noelle just rolled her eyes then opened the door and hopped out of the car. She walked around to the other side of the driveway and took Don's hand as they headed up the front walk of her brother and sister-in-law's uptown house. She knocked a couple times then opened the door without awaiting a response. 'Hey, we're here!"

A moment later, Katie came toddling out of the kitchen at the sound of her mother's voice and headed right for her. "Mama!"

A wide smile crossed Noelle's face at the sight and sound of her daughter. She gathered her up in her arms, hugging her tightly. "How's my beautiful girl? Did you have a good time?"

Ekaterina nodded happily.

Noelle kissed her cheek then hugged Katie again. "Oh, I missed you so much, sweetheart."

"Pa'cakes!"

"You had pancakes? Wow. That's more than mommy got!" she teased, glancing at Don.

"Tell me they weren't the best scrambled eggs you've ever had," he countered with a kiss to her temple, then one to Katie's cheek. "Hey, cutie."

"Where's your Uncle Mark?"

"Right here. Hey guys," Mark greeted, joining them all in the front foyer. "Jennie took Erin to her swimming lesson, but she should be back soon. You want to hang around for a while, have some coffee?"

"Sure. There's actually something I want to talk to you about," Noelle replied. She kissed Katie's cheek again then set her back down on her feet.

"Sounds serious."

She bit her lip, glancing at Don.

"Why don't Katie and I go out for a walk, give you guys some time alone," Don suggested.

"Thank you."

"All right. C'mon, little one. Let's go see what kinda trouble we can find." He scooped the little girl up in his arms and in one smooth turn he set her on his shoulders, causing her to giggle excitedly.

Once Don and Katie were out the door, Mark looked at his sister curiously. "So, what's going on, Noli?"

"How 'bout that coffee first?" she requested.

While Noelle sat down at the kitchen table, Mark poured them each a cup of coffee, then he joined her. He appraised her for a moment. "You know, you look different."

"What?"

He raised his eyebrows at her almost horrified expression. "I mean, you seem happy. Calm."

"Hmm. Maybe because for the first time in as long as I can remember, I am," she replied. She fidgeted for a moment with her coffee cup before looking back at her brother. "I took the DNA test, Mark."

"How? I thought we had to talk to Dad and –"

"Familial DNA searching. A friend of Don's at the Crime Lab was able to take a sample from me and run it through their system, see if there was any relational matches to anyone. There was no match. There's no way I'm William Alton's daughter."

Mark sat back in his chair then, running his hand through his short, blonde hair, absorbing her admission. "Wow."

"You're as surprised as I was," she mused.

"I hate to admit it, but yeah, I'm surprised."

"Is that why you think Mom and Dad never tried to find out? They really thought William Alton was my biological father?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. I mean, I have to believe if they had known the truth, they would have said something. They had to know you would wonder."

She took a sip of her coffee as she contemplated her brother's reasoning. "I hate that I have to bring all of this back up for them. But Dad has to know. And even if there was no DNA test, just hearing Don's name is going to do it."

Mark nodded. "How're you doing with all of this?"

"I'm glad I know. And more than anything, I'm glad that maybe we can lay all of this to rest now."

"You got a raw deal through everything, Noli," Mark said apologetically. "You were the one that had to hold us all together when our family was on the verge of falling apart. That's a hell of lot for a twelve year old to carry. Then when you started to question whether Dad was really – When you started to wonder about your paternity…" He furrowed his brow. "If I was any kind of big brother, I would have talked to Mom and Dad as soon as you started speculating . It wasn't your job to try to protect everyone."

"It's never been yours, either. And never think you haven't been the best big brother in the world. Even when you were high, you were still looking out for me."

"I'm glad I did something good during that time. I don't remember much of it," he said honestly.

"You survived it, that's all that matters. And now, here we are. You've got Jen and Erin."

"And you've got Katie. I know that last few years haven't been easy, but she's an amazing little kid, sis. And things with you and Don seem to be going well. He treating you okay? 'Cause you know I'll kick his ass if he ever does anything to hurt you."

"While I appreciate the sentiment, M, you have nothing to worry about. Don treats me like a queen. He says he loves me, and when he looks at me, I know he means it," she explained wistfully.

"I'm glad. He's a good guy."

"He is. He told his father about me, and his dad remembers me. Talk about awkward."

"Meeting the parents is never not awkward, kiddo."

"Yeah. Well, I guess I should talk to Mom and Dad before I spring Donnie on 'em."

"They even know you're seein' anybody?"

She nodded. "So, I guess sooner rather than later. Don's on day shift tomorrow. I'll see if they're free for breakfast."

A few hours later, after Don insisted that they take Katie to the Central Park Zoo before summer slipped away, the trio returned to Noelle's apartment. She was in her kitchen mixing up a pitcher of lemonade when Don joined her, having just put Katie down for an afternoon nap. He just watched her as she finished and put the pitcher in the fridge. As beautiful as she was all dressed up in a pair of heels, he thought she was at her most beautiful when she was dressed down and her feet were bare, when she was just being comfortable in her own space. And he almost chuckled when he realized that domesticity had become his new turn-on.

"What are you thinking about over there?" Noelle asked, leaning back against the counter and crossing her arms over her chest, noticing the slight smirk on her boyfriend's face.

"A few months ago, I woulda laughed at anyone who said this would have been my idea of the perfect Saturday."

She smiled at that. "Well, it's certainly not very glamorous."

"Doll, I'd choose this, here, any day of the week."

"Katie had I both had a blast at the zoo. That was really sweet of you to suggest it."

"I had fun, too. But then again, any time not spent chasing down homicidal maniacs is fun."

"Who are you kidding? You love chasing down homicidal maniacs. I just hope you love being here with me more."

"That's a definite affirmative." He walked over cupped her face with his hands. He leaned down and kissed her, gently at first then more hungrily.

"Now?" she asked a little incredulously as he started to move them down the hall towards her bedroom.

"Katie's sound asleep," he replied, nuzzling her neck.

"You're insatiable – not that I'm complaining," she laughed, then moaned as he hit her pulse point. She would be lying if she said that the look of pure, unadulterated desire in his eyes did not turn her on. And honestly, making love with Don had become her new favourite pastime.

"I'm just crazy about you."

"Well, the feeling is definitely mutual. C'mon. We've got a good forty-five minutes before Ekaterina wakes up."

Don grinned. "Lead the way, Ms Hansen."