A/N – Hello all! Thank you to anyone who reviewed, read, added as a story alert, breezed through, or scrolled past this story. I appreciate it. (Well, maybe not the last one. LOL.) But I'm back and I've brought chapter 25. HAPPY READING!!

Disclaimer – *Holds up protest sign outside of the CBS headquarters and begins to yell* LET ME OWN CSI NY. LET ME OWN CSI NY. LET ME OWN CSI NY. *Drops sign and sighs.* This protest isn't very effective by myself. Anyone care to join?

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"So, how did you two meet?" Will asked as he and Jess started getting the bags out of the trunk.

"Will, you know we work together." she said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean anything. For all I know you could have met him at a strip club or something."

"Do I really seem like the kind of person that hangs out in strip clubs?"

"Maybe." he replied with a shrug.

Once again Jess rolled her eyes and made her way towards the house.

She sighed as she entered the house, memories all coming back to her now. There were plenty of good ones, but there were also ones she tried her hardest to forget.

"You okay?" Will asked as he came up beside her, breaking her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Will eyed her suspiciously, knowing there was more to it than that but decided to put it off until later. They sat the bags against the wall in the large foyer. They moved into the kitchen where Don and Vanessa sat on the bar stools while her mother was talking about something. Whatever it was, it was keeping their attention.

"And then the power went out." she was saying.

Both Will and Jess groaned, knowing what story she was telling.

"Mom, can we please save this story for another day. This isn't something you talk about the first time you meet someone." she complained.

"I don't know Jess. It's starting to get good." Don joked.

"Exactly. It's a great story." she told her daughter before turning back to Don and Vanessa. "Anywho, there we were. Right in the den. Now remember Will was only a one year old, so he was crying. My other sons were."

"Five, seven, and nine." Will interrupted, already knowing the story by heart. Much to her children's dismay, Nikki was known to tell the story of the child's birth to anyone they brought over, even if it was just a friend from school.

Ignoring her son, Nikki continued. "So I told my oldest son, TJ, well his name is Timothy Jr. but we just call him TJ, to get some candles so we can see. But you see, it was so dark, he couldn't find them. So instead, he pulls out a flash light and shines it right on my..."

"Mom!" Jess exclaimed. "Vanessa's eleven okay, can we please keep it PG."

"Or how about we avoid the whole story as a whole." a voice spoke.

They all turned to see a man walk into the room, wearing jeans and a New Jersey PD T-Shirt. Timothy Angell stood a little shorter than Don but seemed to still be in good shape. He had deep brown eyes and wrinkles on his face, along with dimples that were shown because of the wide smile he had on his face. Don could still see what he called the "police stance" in him as he walked into the kitchen.

"Dad!" Jess shouted as she gave him a huge hug, rubbing his bald head with her hands.

"How's my girl?" he asked, his voice deep and an evident Jersey accent.

"I'm good Dad." she told him.

He smiled at her again before turning to Vanessa. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Vanessa." she told him.

"Vanessa who?"

"Vanessa Flack." she said, confused as why he didn't know who she was.

"Flack…I'm sorry but that doesn't ring a bell."

Vanessa was about to tell him more, but the small smirk on his face made her realize that he was joking.

"I almost had ya, didn't I?"

"Almost." she said with a smile.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Vanessa Flack." he said before turning to Don. "And you must be Don." he said, shaking Don's hand.

"Nice to meet you sir." Don said.

"Call me Tim. And nice to meet you too. I hope my wife isn't scaring you off with her birth stories." he asked.

"Not at all. Her story is nothing compared to my mom's potty training stories." Don told him.

"Oh, that reminds me of when Jess was sitting on the toilet."

"Mom!" Jess exclaimed.

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"I love your Mom." Don said.

Jess rolled her eyes, as she went through her bag, retrieving a white tank top and green pajama bottoms. "You say that now, but just wait until the end of our visit. You'll be so ready to go home."

Don and Jess were staying in the guest room of the house. Don was actually surprised that her parents gave them a room together, even though Jess figured they would. Vanessa was staying down the hall in Jess's own room.

"What did you expect?" Jess asked as she showed her old bedroom to Don and Vanessa. Much to their surprise, the room was decorated with posters of rock bands and soccer players.

Don shrugged. "I don't know, maybe some dolls."

Jess gave Don a pointed look. "Do I really seem like the kind of girl that played with dolls?"

Don chuckled as he flopped on the bed, clad in navy blue pajama bottoms and an NYPD t-shirt. "Jess, she's not that bad. You're old man is pretty cool too."

"Yeah, he always has been. I guess you could say that whenever Mom starts to take things too far, he's always there to reel here back in. Just wait until tomorrow when everyone comes over for Thanksgiving. She won't be able to stop." she told him, changing into her pajamas.

"I'm sure it will be fun." he said.

"We'll see about that. My crazy family might just scare you off" she said with a laugh, before climbing in the bed, resting her head in the crook of her neck.

Don placed a kiss on the top of her head. "I doubt that. It's gonna take more than a couple of crazy relatives to get rid of me."

Jess looked at him, pecking him on the lips. "You say that now, but let's see if you say it after tomorrow.

Don smiled down at here, running a hand over her head. Jess snuggled closer, enjoying the moment, all while thinking of the craziness ahead.

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Don awoke the next morning, hearing Jess's slow breathing, indicating that she was still asleep. He slowly, moved her off of him and stood up, running a hand over his face. He looked back down at Jess, who hadn't budged since he got up. He smiled down at her, knowing she was probably tired and needed the rest.

Don slowly made his way out of their room, and went to the room to where Vanessa was sleeping. He peaked inside, but saw the bed was empty so he turned to go downstairs. He followed the voiced he heard into the kitchen. He walked inside and saw Vanessa sitting on a bar stool, talking and laughing with Tim. The two were leaning over a bowl of string beans, picking the ends off.

"Good morning Detective." Tim spoke, noticing Don walk in the room.

"Good morning." he replied with a smile, before placing a kiss on Vanessa head.

"String bean?" she offered.

"No thanks." he said with a frown.

Vanessa laughed before turning back to Tim. "Told ya. He hates string beans yet he always tells me I should eat them. Paradox? I think so."

"Paradox? What kinda schools do they got in New York when eleven year olds are using words like paradox." Tim joked.

Don laughed, taking a seat next to Vanessa. In actuality, Vanessa was being tutored three times a week to help with her reading. Her tutor gave her new words every other session to remember and she had the habit if using them whenever she had a conversation.

"Coffee, Don?" Tim offered.

"Sure."

As Tim began making the coffee, Don finally noticed the pink flower apron he was wearing. "You do a lot of cooking?" he asked with a grin.

Tim looked down at his apron and chuckled. "Well, when your wife has the cooking skills of a three year-old, you acquire the necessary skills. Will gave me the apron as a gift."

"So how did you raise five kids, four of whom are boys? I mean, one is proving to be enough." he said, cocking his head towards Vanessa.

"Well, I guess you just gotta realize that no matter how hard it gets, they are still your kids and they need you to take care of them. I don't know whose harder, boys or girls."

"Boys." Vanessa said plainly.

"And how do you know?" Tim asked, with a smile.

"Because, there weird." she told them.

"Are not!" Will exclaimed, walking in the kitchen. He only lived about five minutes away, so he had arrived early. "Girls are weird." he said sticking his tongue out at Vanessa.

Tim shook his head at his son. "Well, I don't know whose easier, boys or girls, but I do know that raising Will was probably the most challenging."

Will laughed and placed a hand on Don's shoulder. "Don't listen to him Don, he's just a cranky old man."

"No, you're just an annoying old fart." Jess said, joining them in the kitchen. She knocked Will's hand off of Don's shoulder and replaced with hers before leaning down and placing a small kiss on his lips.

Vanessa covered her eyes, groaning at them. Will glanced at her with a smile, before doing the same. "Ew Jess, you're hurting my eyes." he joked.

"Grow up Will." Jess told him.

Tim sighed at his children. "Alright children." he said, glancing at Jess and Will. "It's time for you to leave the kitchen so I can cook."

"Dad has this thing that no one can be in here while he's cooking." Jess told Don.

"Only Vanessa can stay." Tim told them.

"What. Dad, you've known me longer. How come she gets to stay?" Will complained, pretending to be hurt.

"She's cuter." Tim said simply.

Will glanced at Vanessa who was grinning broadly at him.

He looked at Jess next. "It's true." she told him.

Lastly, he looked at Don who was holding back a smile.

"Traitors," he teased.

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A couple of hours later, everyone had showered and dressed and the rest of Jess's brothers had arrived.

Tim Jr., aka TJ was the oldest of the five. At 39, he was a tall man with broad shoulders. His dark brown hair was cut short, and his deep brown eyes resembled Jess's. He came along with his wife, Tina who had short blond hair and hazel eyes. The couple had two sons, James, who was 13, and Sean, who was 11.

Next was Kevin who looked very much like their father, with light brown hair and dark eyes. He along with his wife Kim brought their 9 year old son Nick.

And finally there was Paul. He looked almost identical to Will, except his hair was cut short. He was married to his wife, Anna, who was spending Thanksgiving with her family in Ohio along with their 5 year old son, Jackson.

"So, Don. Is it hell living with Jess?" Kevin asked him.

Don and Jess's brothers were all sitting in the den, while the kids were off with Nikki and Jess, and Tim continued his cooking, with the aid of Tina and Kim.

Don chuckled at the question. "No, it's actually pretty nice." he told them.

"That's hard to believe." Kevin muttered.

"So, what do you think of the Angell clan so far?" Paul asked, taking a sip of his beer.

Don laughed before answering. "Not what I expected. I thought you guys were all gonna give me the "I'll kill you if you hurt my sister speech.""

TJ shook his head. "We figured you're a detective so that was already understood. Besides, Jessie isn't your typical sister. She's the kind of sister that makes us have to give you the "If you hurt my sister, she'll kill you speech."" He told them, causing the room to break out in laughter.

"That is so true." Don said in between laughs.

A voice broke through the laughter and they all looked up to see Nikki standing in the doorway.

"Dinner is just about ready so everyone can come into the dining room." she informed them. "Oh and Will, go and find Jessie. I'm not sure where she wondered off to." she told him before turning to leave.

Will nodded and headed upstairs to look for Jess while the rest of the guys made their way into the dining room.

He wandered down the hall and into her old bedroom where, much like he expected, she was sitting on the edge of the window, looking down at the back yard.

"Jelly?" he asked softly.

Jess jumped at the sound of his voice. "Oh, hey Will."

He slowly made his way closer to her and leaned against the wall next to the window.

"Mom said dinner was just about ready."

Jess nodded but continued staring out of the window.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Yeah." she answered rather quickly.

Will sighed and ran a hand over his head. "Does he know?"

Jess paused for a moment, silently wishing he hadn't asked her. "No." she answered softly.

"Dammit Jess, you gotta tell him." he told her.

"Why?"

"Cause if he loves you as much as I think he does, then he has the right to know." he said.

"What good will it do, huh? It was a long time ago Will. I hardly think about it anymore. All he's gonna do is feel sorry for me and I don't want that." she replied, growing annoyed.

"What good will it do? For one, it will help him understand you better. And maybe he can make it less painful of a memory for you." he said.

When she didn't answer, Will sighed and headed out of the room. He stopped at the doorway and looked back at her. "Just think about it Jess." he said softly before leaving her alone in the room.

Jess sighed, knowing he was right. Don did deserve to know what happened but she just didn't know how to tell him.