Flufftober Day 1 Prompt: Winning a Teddy for the Other...with a few liberties taken.

This is also quite late. I do love these prompts so I might write out the whole series, but they won't correspond with the actual calendar date.

Tags and characters will probably change as more chapters get posted.

An exhausted sigh leaves her body the minute it hits the bench beneath her— a whole day at the carnival under the scorching sun proving to be too much on them. It's a content sigh, however, and Amanda adjusts the canopy on Billie's stroller to keep the rays of the setting sun out as Carisi plops close beside her.

Jesse runs about straight ahead, her energy level but unchanged from the four hours of lengthy lines, prolonged walking, and greasy foods.

Amanda leans on his shoulder, entwining her arm in his.

"Where we can see you, Jesse," she calls.

The little one is too animated to sit. It doesn't help that the game booths flash right in front of her fluttery eyes.

"Can I play?" Jesse hops excitedly, her little voice echoing between them.

"Hang on Jesse, c'mere." She bounces towards her Uncle Sonny, too fast to properly brake before running into his legs.

"Ow," he cries jokingly, straightening her ponytail and handing her a water bottle in the process.

Jesse gulps and gulps, letting out a loud 'aaaah' when she's done. She uses the back of her hand to wipe at her lips and is on her way back to the games before they can finish saying "yes, you may."

"Gotta keep hydrated," he absentmindedly turns to Amanda to offer her the water and catches her watching him. "What?" he chuckles.

"Nothing," she dismisses. But it is not nothing. Every day, she is stunned at how their lives turned out. Who knew that when boy wonder and his 'stache walked in roughly seven years ago she would end up finding the kindest, realest, most supportive constant in her life? Any other course is unthinkable. "Thank you," she raises the bottle and takes a sip herself.

Amanda is tired. All she wants is to go home and wash the day away from her, however lovely it's been. She relaxes against Carisi's side and is almost lulled to sleep by the lazy patterns his fingers trace along her hairline. It is silent for a moment before Amanda tells Jesse she has about another half-hour until they head back. The little one assents and presses on for as long as she can, trying every game possible, the odds surely against her.

"Hey," he asks quietly.

"Hmm?"

"What'aya want for dinna'?"

"I don't think I can eat for another three to four days," she deadpans; he laughs.

"You gotta—"

"I know. I gotta eat." If there is one thing that Dominick "Sonny" Carisi, Jr. always makes sure of is that his girls are always well-rested and nourished. All three of them.

She turns to look at him, the corners of her lips folding when their eyes meet. "We can pick something up on our way home. Something light," she emphasizes. "I don't want you to spend hours cooking."

"I don't mind it."

"I know you don't," she holds his gaze and contemplates all the times she thought she was just like her mother; that she couldn't do nice, that she wasn't worthy of such love and security. The only thing she knows now is she never wants to let this go.

A downcast Jesse comes back, all her attempts at obtaining the purple sea lion hanging from every other game booth unsuccessful. And now she's out of time and change.

She tells herself she's a brave girl, however; and she won't cry or kick and scream. She holds back the tears as she sits on Sonny's lap, wrapping her small arms around his waist.

"What's wrong, baby girl?" he places a kiss to the crown of her head.

"I lost and couldn't get the prize," she wails.

He glances at Amanda, a sympathetic look on her face as she watches her eldest daughter latch onto him.

"D'ya want me to try for ya?"

Jesse snaps her head up, a hopeful sparkle in her eyes. "Really? Yes, please."

"M'kay, I'll be right back," he says with a wink and pat to her back.

Jesse moves onto her mother's lap, watching in wonder as Carisi struts decidedly towards the noisy booths.

"Now, don't get too excited, Jesse. Those games are hard to win." She rests her chin on top of Jesse's head, holding her tightly.

Jesse nods but is already way too excited for her own good. She knows Mommy's and Uncle Sonny's work makes them good at shooting things.

"Momma?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"Is Uncle Sonny coming home with us?"

Amanda pauses, taken aback for a moment. "Um, yeah, honey. Is that— is that okay?"

Jesse nods excitedly. "I like when he's there."

Amanda breathes out easily. There is no doubt the girls enjoy his presence, but she can't help but feel a prick of guilt knowing an official conversation is still overdue. "Me too, baby."

"I love Uncle Sonny."

Amanda smiles to herself as she sees him in the distance taking the mission of getting Jesse the prize she wants way too seriously. "Me too, baby."

He comes back with a tote bag in hand, dramatically pulling out the purple sea lion and handing it to Jesse like it's a spectacle.

The girl squeals. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she tugs at his legs. "Mommy, look," she flashes the animal before her eyes.

"I see that. It's beautiful, honey."

"What'aya gonna name it?"

Jesse throws it a pensive look. "Uh... Sonny," she simply states.

The pair laughs. "That's a great name, Jess."

Carisi then reaches into the folds of the bag and places a pink bunny next to Billie's sleeping form. Holding a finger up, he goes in one more time and pulls out a single yellow rose— which he immediately offers to Amanda, crouching down to her eye-level.

"I didn't want'ya to feel left out."

She takes it with a coy smile, scrunching her nose at him.

"Okay. Who wants ice cream?" he claps his hands together.

"Meeeee," Jesse singsongs, turning to her mother with pleading eyes. "Can I, Mommy?"

Amanda turns to Dominick, his oops-I'm-in-trouble expression draws a pretend stern look from her.

"You are dealing with it at bedtime," she murmurs close to him. A grin brightens his face as he concedes with a matter-of-fact nod.

"Yeah, baby, you can have some ice cream."

Jesse sprints ahead, wide-eyed with the purple Sonny tight in her grasp.

Dominick squeezes Amanda's hand in his before letting go, a warm smile on his face, zooming ahead himself to catch up with the energetic little girl.

Like clockwork, the question invades her thoughts as she watches them go. Is this even real? At times, she struggles to believe the far cry her life is from what she was told she didn't deserve growing up. But with him, with Dominick, it is easy every day to allow herself to relinquish those beliefs.

So this one was basically just unapologetic fluff...I guess it is a Flufftober series after all. I posted it to ao3 but was able to recover my account here and decided to post here too :)

Thank you all for reading! This is my first time writing Rollisi, but these two just have me by the throat and I have a lot of feelings.