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A/N Just a little bit of fluff for this long weekend. Happy Easter everyone!

XXX CSI: NY XXX CSI:NY XXX CSI:NY XXX CSI: NY XXX CSI:NY XXX CSI:NY XXX CSI: NY

"Three words, Hansen. Not. A. Chance."

Noelle rolled her eyes at Danny as she finished setting up her shot, then she pulled back the queue and sent the stripe into the corner pocket. She smiled proudly as she straightened up and picked her drink up from the edge of the pool table. "You were saying?"

Don laughed. "You should've learned by now, Messer. Never underestimate my wife." He held his hand out and accepted the twenty dollar bill Danny grudgingly passed him, then kissed his wife's temple. "Nice job, babe."

"Yeah, well, I had a good teacher." She leaned up and kissed him, and both of them forgot for a moment that they were in the middle of Sullivan's on a busy Saturday night.

"Okay, okay, what's with the PDA? You'd think you were still newlyweds or somethin'," Danny muttered.

Flack flashed his best friend a dimpled grin as he slipped an arm around his wife's waist. "We are. And you're just ticked 'cause your wife's spendin' the night with Craddock and Hawkes."

"Shut it, Flack. All right, you gonna give me a chance to win my money back here or what?"

"He's a glutton for punishment," Don said to Noelle.

"You two go ahead. I'm going to go call your folks and say goodnight to Katie." She leaned up for one more kiss before she slid through the crowd and out of the bar to make the call.

Don watched her, shaking his head with another grin before looking back at his best friend. "Rack 'em, Danno."

"You are way too disgustingly happy. And if I recall correctly, I gave you a month. Now, I was lenient, and I extended it to two. But time's up. The grin's gotta go. It's hurtin' my teeth," Messer chided him.

"Cut me some slack, here. It hasn't exactly been smooth sailing, what with the whole homicidal mobster makin' eyes at my bride thing."

"You really gonna pull that whole homicidal mobster thing?" Danny kidded, bringing his beer bottle to his lips and taking a long pull. "Okay, fine, I'll give ya that. So, Hansen, she really doin' okay?"

Don nodded. "Yeah. She's actually slept most of the past few nights. And she's been writing a lot so I think she's found an outlet for all the emotion and everything. She, uh – She gave her two weeks at Fisher-Mathews yesterday."

Danny quirked an eyebrow. "No kiddin'."

"Yeah, well, she was gonna wait until the first issue of Moda Bella came out, but we talked it over and decided a few weeks isn't gonna to make much of a difference. It'll be good for Katie to have one of us around all the time, and Jen's havin' a really hard time watchin' her all day with the way she's been feelin'…And fact is, Noli was never cut out to be a corporate warrior. She's got too much creative energy in her." He picked up his Guinness from the edge of the pool table and knocked back the remaining liquid.

"Looks like things are falling into place, man."

"I'd feel better if Carlos Caravaggio was in a cell somewhere, but yeah, finally, feels like things are 'bout as normal as they're gonna get."

"How'd she react about the whole dog thing?"

"What dog thing?" Noelle asked as she returned to her husband's side.

Don cleared his throat, scowling at his best friend.

Danny shrugged innocently, but could not resist shooting Flack a wry grin as he took another pull from his beer bottle.

Noelle raised her eyebrows. "What's going on?"

"Yeah, Don, what's goin' on?" Messer mocked.

Ignoring Danny, Don looked at his wife. "So, uh, yeah, Rick called. He's been offered this three month undercover assignment. Great opportunity."

"Sounds exciting. What's that got to do with – Oh, no, don't say it. He asked if we could take Rocco?" Noelle concluded.

Don nodded.

"Donnie…"

"C'mon, Noli. Katie loves that dog. And Rocco's got this big soft spot for her. I mean, Strong could take him but he's working crazy hours and Rocco'd have to share space with another dog. One of us will be around most of the time, and Katie would be in heaven…"

Noelle narrowed her eyes. "And you already told him yes, didn't you?"

Don hesitated.

"Without talking to me first? Great. Where the hell are we going to put a German shepherd? We're already starting to trip over each other as it is. Now my home is going to smell like dog. Did you even think this through?"

Danny leaned back against the pool table, watching the entire exchange with an amused smile. This almost made up for having to spend another night with his wife working an opposing shift.

"Doll, it's not going to be that big a deal, I promise. You'll hardly even notice he's there. Katie and I'll walk him –"

"Katie's a month shy of two, Donnie. You will walk him. You'll clean up after him. And so help me, if that dog breaks anything…"

"I swear, sweetheart, it'll be fine. Just go with me on this."

"Uh-huh."

"You want another drink?"

"Yeah. Better tell Frankie to put an extra shot of B&B in there."

The next afternoon, Noelle walked in through the front door after picking up Katie from her in-laws' to be greeted by a barking, panting German shepherd.

"Wocco!" Katie exclaimed excitedly.

"Here, sweetie, let me get your coat and boots off then you can play with Rocco, okay?" Noelle pleaded.

The little girl bounced on her feet impatiently as her mother unzipped her parka and eased it off, then she flung her arms around her favourite dog. In response, Rocco licked her face. And as Don joined them in the entry way, Katie looked up at her father. "Dada! Wocco here!"

"He's gonna live with us for a while. Is that okay?" Don asked with a smile.

Katie's eyes lit up even more if that was even possible. "Yay!"

"Are you going to help Daddy take care of him, honey?" Noelle asked.

"I help! I help! Wocco stay?"

Noelle glanced up at Don with a pointed look. "Yep, he's going to stay." She turned back to her daughter, pulling the overly-excited toddler over against her. "Let's get your boots off and you can show him where he's going to sleep."

"My woom!"

Noelle rolled her eyes. She got Katie's boots off, then watched helplessly as the little girl took off with the large dog in tow. She stood up and removed her own coat and kicked off her shoes.

"Thanks, babe," Don offered.

"Yeah, well, don't think I'm not going to use this at some point in the future."

"You know, I've been thinking about what you said last night, you know, about us trippin' over each other 'round here."

"Me, too. Maybe we should think about looking for a three-bedroom."

"What would you say to us lookin' instead for a house?" Don suggested.

"I'd say it's a great idea but there's no way we can afford it right now considering I just quit my job." She walked past him and headed into the kitchen to fix herself a cup of tea.

Don followed and leaned against the door jamb, just watching his wife for a moment. "I worked it out. I think we can swing it," he finally said.

"You were able to find a house we can by for a hundred bucks, huh?" she teased him.

"Seriously, doll. It's not out of the question. I wasn't exactly squandering my paycheque the last fifteen years."

She set the kettle on the stove top and turned on the burner, then leaned against the counter and appraised her husband. "You're serious."

He nodded. "I'm serious."

Noelle bit her lip. "It would be nice to have a real house, a little backyard for Katie –"

"—and Rocco."

She crossed her arms in front of her and looked at him suspiciously. "I thought this was just a three-month assignment for Rick."

"Give or take a couple weeks. Probably. You know how these things go."

"No, really, I don't. Why don't you tell me?"

"Well, it's just – You know, might run over. He's deep cover."

"Donald Flack, Jr., did we just adopt a dog?"

"That, uh – It depends. Am I gonna be sleepin' in the guestroom in our new house if I say yes?"

Before Noelle could respond, Katie came running into the kitchen with her new playmate at her heels. "Mama! We go ou'side?" she requested.

"Ask your father," Noli glowered a little.

Katie looked at Don hopefully.

"Sure, cutie. Let's show Rocco his new neighbourhood."

Katie ran out into the hall to wait to get her coat and boots put back on.

Don looked at his wife a little sheepishly. "So, yeah, uh – I left the real estate section open on the coffee table."

"I'll go see if I can find one with a dog house." As she walked past him, she muttered, "and not for Rocco."