A/N: I know I said nephew, but I realized Alex's nephew would be too young for any funny remarks. So I went for a niece of six years old. I thought it would be easier. I had difficulty writing this chapter, but I don't think it's too bad. No promises about the next chapter yet, 'cause I seem to change my mind about stuff sometimes, just like the nephew turning into a niece. Anyway, enjoy and remarks, suggestions, ideas and grammar related stuff are welcome. Enjoy! And Merry Christmas to all!

Part eleven

Opening the front door Alex greeted her visitors. "Good morning." She said to her niece and sister-in-law. Today she was going to baby sit her niece Lucy, the daughter of her oldest brother. Lucy was six years old and a sweet girl. Alex loved spending time with her.

"Hi, aunt Alex." Lucy greeted her favourite aunt.

"Hey, Alex. Thanks for doing this." Laura watched her daughter step into the apartment.

"No problem. You and Jason have fun."

"I'll see you two tomorrow evening. Bye sweetie." Laura kissed her daughter goodbye.

"What are we doing to do?" Laura excitedly asked her aunt.

"I don't know yet, but how about we go into the living room."

Skipping into the living room, Lucy came to a sudden halt. She quickly turned to her aunt. There was a stranger on the couch. "Who's this?" Lucy stepped closer to the couch.

Alex smiled at the image Bobby represented. He was too big for the couch. Waking up this morning she'd been surprised to find him on her couch. She'd expected him to leave. Some part of her was happy he hadn't left. Maybe there was still hope. She'd tried to wake him up, but he just rolled over and started snoring. After a few tries she'd given up. He probably could use the sleep. Now it was time for him to wake up and leave.

"This is Bobby. I work with him. Why don't you wake him up?"

Lucy looked from Bobby to Alex. "Can I?" Her eyes widened. Her mother never allowed her to wake up her father. She always said she was too enthusiastic. Lucy didn't know what she meant by that. Everybody always woke up when she did the wake up calls.

"Sure. Just be really loud otherwise he won't hear." She couldn't help but smile. With the drinks he'd had, he probably wouldn't be happy with the way her niece was going to wake him. She could still remember how Lucy had woken her up one time. She'd sat up and had almost reached for her gun, ready to kill whoever was yelling.

Lucy leaned over Bobby. "Good morning!" She yelled in his ear.

Startled awake Bobby immediately sat up. The quick move made him aware of his headache. He rubbed his eyes and groaned. Slowly opening his eyes he saw Alex and a little girl next to her. They were both laughing.

"Good morning, Bobby." Alex smiled sweetly at him.

"Hello." Lucy greeted Bobby with a small wave.

He realized he was still at Alex's apartment. After his stupid behaviour he'd decided to stay, hoping they could talk in the morning. "Morning." He mumbled.

"I'll get you some coffee." She'd seen him flinch. His head was probably bothering him. Sensing her niece was about to ask Bobby questions, she guided her with him. Bobby could probably use the time.

Returning to the living room with a coffee, Alex handed Bobby the cup. She'd send her niece to put her stuff in the guest room. She'd have some time with Bobby. In stead of sitting down she kept standing.

Drinking his coffee, Bobby thought of what to say. He needed to apologize, that he knew. "I'm sorry about last night, Alex."

Instead of accepting his apology she ignored him. "You need to leave, as you could see I've got company."

"Who is she?" He rubbed his eyes.

"Her name is Lucy and she's my niece. Daughter of my oldest brother." Alex explained.

Before Bobby could say more, Lucy walked back into the living room. "Hi, I'm Lucy." She sat down on the couch next to Bobby. "Is auntie Alex mad at you?"

Bobby coughed. The little girl was rather frank. "I…euuh…" He tried to come up with a good response.

Lucy, apparently oblivious to Bobby's attempts went on. "Cause daddy had to sleep on the couch once 'cause mommy was mad."

Seeing Bobby's face Alex tried to hold in her laughter, but failed. Laughing out loud she caught Bobby's glare, causing her to laugh even more. She wasn't going to help him out. This was just too much fun.

"Eeuuh…yes, but…"

"Are you aunt Alex's boyfriend?"

His mind needed time to catch up with the questions. He was still trying to answer the first question. How he wanted to answer her second question with a yes, but he wasn't even close to a yes. Far from it. "No.., not exactly."

Alex was uncertain what his answer meant. Lucy simply continued. "Are you going with us today?"

"I don't know if…"

"Can he, aunt Alex? Please?" The little girl pleaded with her aunt. She liked her aunt's friend even though he didn't talk much and didn't look so good and he seemed really tall.

Seeing both Bobby and Lucy's expectant gaze, she wanted to say yes. It would be nice to spend a day with Bobby without it turning into an argument. "Sure. You still have some clothes here. Why don't you go take a shower?" She told Bobby.

He thanked her with that shy little smile that always made her smile. "Go." She said softly, nodding towards the door that led to the bathroom.

"This is gonna be fun!" Lucy smiled. "Can we go to the zoo?"

"Sure. How about we go make some breakfast first." With her niece she walked back to the kitchen. She hoped she'd made the right decision. She was going to go to the zoo with her niece and Bobby. It was sounded kinda domestic. And what had he meant with his answer. He wasn't exactly her boyfriend? What did that mean? He wasn't her boyfriend at all! He couldn't even admit he was attracted to her! Well she was going to put that aside for the moment and enjoy the day. This could be good for them, since yesterday's attempt to just spend time together had been ruined by his drinking and jealousy. Surely there wasn't going to be anything today that was going to bother him. Or would he get jealous of the animals in the zoo if she gave them too much attention? Smiling at her own thoughts, she shook her head. She would see what they day was going to bring.

TBC...