He was up early Sunday morning. After showering and shaving, he put on jeans and a nice shirt. The phone rang at about ten. It was Eames. "Hey, are you ready?"

"Whenever you are."

"Great. I'll be there in a little while."

So he waited. He was nervous, not about spending time with her, but about meeting her family. He'd met her parents and her sister's family, but this was everyone, the whole family, and that made him nervous; he wasn't sure why. But he cared enough about her to want to make a good impression on the people closest to her.

Ten forty-five. A knock, and the door opened. He called to her from the kitchen, "I'll be right there."

A few minutes later, he came out of the kitchen. His eyes unconsciously scanned her, head to toe, as they always did. She was wearing a yellow sleeveless top with denim shorts. It was all he could do to hide his reaction. "You look...good." No, she doesn't, his mind corrected. She looks great.

"Thanks. So do you. You even shaved." She touched his cheek, lightly rubbing his freshly-shaven cheek. "Nice," she said. Wow, she thought.

"I wanted to look good."

"For my family?"

"And for you. We've never had a date before."

A date? He never failed to catch her off-guard, but today that didn't annoy her. "I really haven't given it much thought, but I shouldn't be surprised that you did. I guess it is a date, huh?"

"You can call it whatever you want."

She studied him. His eyes were smiling at her; he was teasing. That meant he was in a good mood, and she was glad for that. With a smile, she teased him back. "Ok, Goren. It's a date. Now let's get going. I don't want to be the last to arrive."

He cocked his head to the side, curious. "Why not?"

"I hate being the center of attention. That's one of the many reasons I like being your partner. You hog the attention."

He laughed and opened the door for her. "Whatever works for you, Eames."

As they approached her parents' house, she began counting cars. "Well, at least we're not the last ones here."

He grinned but remained silent as she parked the car. She crossed the lawn to the porch and opened the front door; he followed her into the house. There was no one milling around inside, she was pleased to see. Crossing the living room, she poked her head into the kitchen. "Hi, Dad."

John Eames looked up from the pile of chop meat in front of him. "Hi, sweetheart."

She kissed him. "You remember Bobby, don't you?"

"Of course I do." He held up his hands which were covered with meat and shrugged. "I'd shake your hand..."

Goren smiled. "It's good to see you again, sir. Um, do you need a hand there?"

"No, thanks. I'm just making the hamburger patties. Mark is starting the grill...at least he'd better be. You want to check on that for me, Alex? You know your brother."

She looked at her partner. "Mark gives new meaning to the term 'space cadet.' Sure, Dad."

"There's soda, beer, water...I think your mom got some juice, too. Help yourselves." He looked at Goren. "And relax, Bobby. There's no one here but family."

Goren nodded, but Eames could tell he wasn't reassured. She placed a hand on his side and gently pushed him toward the back door. "Give a yell if you need anything, Dad."

"Just make sure that grill's getting hot!"

She reached for the door leading to the back deck, but stopped with her hand on the knob. Grabbing Goren's arm, she pulled him down so she could talk directly into his ear. "Relax," she whispered. "Really. There's no animosity here, I promise."

Pulling the door open, they were hit by a wave of noise...voices talking, children yelling and laughing, adults shouting. They stepped onto the deck. Helen Eames turned toward them when she heard the door open. "Alex!" she smiled. She hugged her daughter, then looked up at Bobby. "Hello, Bobby. It's nice to see you again."

She stepped over to hug him and he said, "Hello, Mrs. Eames."

"How are you?"

"Fine, thank you. Are you feeling better?"

She was impressed that he remembered she had been sick. "Yes, thank you. Please, make yourself at home."

"Thanks."

Alex had disappeared from beside him; he found her on the other side of the big deck by the grill. She looked up as he approached. "Like I said, my brother's a space cadet. You have a lighter?"

He shoved his hand into his pocket and handed her a lighter. She turned the knob on the propane tank, twisted a few knobs on the front of the grill, and, flicking the lighter, held the flame to a burner. The grill ignited and she handed the lighter back. "Hey, Alex!"

She looked toward the steps leading up from the yard, where everyone was hanging around, talking or playing with the kids. "Hi, Mark," she smiled as her brother engulfed her in a bear hug.

He was the youngest in the family, and the only one unmarried. He grinned sheepishly. "Uh, Dad asked me to do that..."

"And somewhere between the kitchen and the deck you forgot."

He shrugged. "Sorry."

"Forget it. I got ya covered. Where's Sue?"

"Oh. We broke up a few weeks ago. I didn't bring anyone this time around. But I'm glad to see you did."

"This is Bobby, my partner."

Mark's face lit up as he shook Bobby's hand. "Hey, man, it's great to meet you. I've been hearing about you for a couple of years now."

Bobby nodded. "Nice to meet you, too."

"Come on and meet the rest of the family. I'll get you a beer. You want one, too, Al?"

"Sure," she answered. "Go ahead, Bobby. I'll be right there."

He followed Mark down the steps into the yard. She adjusted the grill, poked her head in the door and yelled, "The grill's almost ready, Dad."

"Thanks, honey."

She crossed the deck and descended into the yard. Mark handed her a beer. She looked around. "Where's Bobby?"

"He was here a minute ago..." He pointed. "Over there, with Chris."

She looked out into the yard, where he was standing by a tree, talking to her brother Chris. Chris was the shortest of her brothers, two inches shy of six feet tall. He was dark-haired, but his features were similar to hers. Bobby seemed a little more at ease, even if his eyes occasionally strayed around the rest of the yard. She wondered if he ever got out of cop mode. Still, she was impressed that he could maintain his vigilance without ever giving the impression he wasn't paying attention. His intensity served him well.

"Alex!"

She turned back toward the steps where her sister was coming down the stairs, carrying the baby, who was nine months old. Her face lit up. "Hi, Reggie," she said to her sister. Her given name was Regina. She had always called her Reggie while half of her brothers called her Gina. It was no wonder she'd been a confused baby.

She held her arms out to the baby as his mother stepped into the yard. He launched himself into his aunt's arms with a huge smile. "Hi, Jake! How's my boy?"

She tickled his belly and hugged him. He squealed happily. Alex and Jake were always happy to see each other. Reggie laughed. "You just saw him on Friday."

"Well, I missed him." She smiled at Jake's father as he came down the steps from the deck. "Hi, Aaron."

"Hey, Alex."

She took the baby into the yard, toward her partner, who smiled when he saw her coming. Jake's face lit up again when he saw Bobby and he jumped into his arms with almost as much enthusiasm as when he'd seen his aunt. Bobby held the baby above his head and Jake squealed with delight. Alex smiled, thinking, not for the first time, what a great father he would make, if circumstances ever presented themselves in his life to make him one. Reggie and Aaron had followed her from the shadow of the deck. Bobby said hello to Reggie and shook Aaron's hand. "Good to see you again," he said.

Aaron smiled. "I see Jake's happy to see you."

"I'm happy to see him, too. It's been a couple of weeks."

Jake jumped back toward Alex, who took him with a smile and a coo. Bobby smiled at her, knowing she wasn't paying any attention to him. He knew how much she wanted a baby of her own, and he hoped that someday, the greatest of her heart's desires would be fulfilled. He bent over and picked up his beer from where he'd set it so he could say hello to the baby. "Bobby?" Chris placed a hand on his shoulder. "This is my wife, Wendy. And two of those monsters out there in the yard are ours."

He shook Wendy's hand with a smile and she stepped to his side, turning and pointing out her son and daughter. Todd, at eleven, was the oldest of the cousins, and his sister, Hannah, was eight. She then pointed out Jeff, the third oldest Eames boy, who was chasing the children around the yard, growling. His daughters were Debbie, who was five and Kerri, who was two. Jeff's wife, Holly, came over to join the group and say hello to the new arrivals.

A short while later, the last of the Eames siblings, Kevin, arrived with his wife Leslie and their three children, Teddy, who was six, and the twins, Harry and Abbie, who were four. John was out on the deck, grilling burgers, hot dogs and chicken, while his wife was in the kitchen, finishing the last of the salads. Alex found Bobby, standing a little way off, leaning against a tree with a beer in his hand, watching everyone with interest. She stepped up to his side. "Is your head spinning yet?"

He looked at her, confused. "No. This is only my second beer."

She laughed. "No, I mean from all the introductions and the activity."

He smiled. "The introductions were fine, and I like the activity. There's lots to watch."

"I don't want you standing around watching all day. I want you to interact."

"Give me a chance to settle in."

"How many beers will that take?"

He laughed softly. "That isn't what I meant."

She reached out and took his hand, looking at his watch. "It's almost two. The food will be ready soon. Go and mingle."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to see if Dad needs a hand."

"Why don't you mingle and I'll help your dad?"

"Nice try. Relax. The only one who bites is Harry, and last I heard he'd outgrown it."

"I'll try to remember that."

She poked him and he laughed. "I want you to have fun, ok? This is a family get-together, and it's meant to be fun."

He watched her walk away, and he sighed softly, watching the family around him. So this was what family was supposed to be like. He couldn't help feeling that he'd missed out on a lot growing up. And he swore, if it was in his future to have children, he would do everything in his power to make certain they were surrounded by nothing but love.

A ball bounced toward him and hit his knees. He squatted down, making himself less intimidating, and picked up the ball. Harry and his cousin Teddy plowed right into him, knocking him over and laughing. He rolled onto his side, and tossed the ball over their heads to Todd. Squealing, the boys were off after their cousin. Bobby sat on the ground, watching with a smile as the kids tossed the ball from one to another, chasing and trying to tackle whoever had the ball. All four of Alex's brothers and Aaron had joined in the game. Then he noticed little Kerri toddling along after the group, trying to keep up. His eyes searched the yard until he found a discarded ball. He got up, retrieved the ball and walked over to Kerri, who had tripped and was watching her cousins get further away from her. He squatted beside her. "Hi, Kerri."

She looked up at him as he held out the ball and she smiled, scrambling to her feet. She took the ball, scurried a few feet away and threw it to him. He caught it and she ran at him to tackle him. He let her. Giggling, she got up and stood there waiting for him to throw the ball back to her. He obliged, tossing the ball gently to her. It hit her chest, bounced off and plopped into the grass. Picking it up, she started to run, still laughing, so he could catch her, which he did.

Alex and her brother's wives were helping with the final preparations before calling everyone to eat. All the food was set out and they were getting the condiments, salad dressings, paper plates, napkins and plastic utensils set out. Reggie was inside giving Jake a bottle and settling him down for a nap. John carried a platter of hot dogs and hamburgers to the table then went back to the grill to turn the chicken and slather on his homemade barbecue sauce. He looked out over the yard at the game the men were playing with the children, and he saw Kerri trying to keep up with her sister and their cousins. He waited for someone to notice when she tripped and fell, surprised when she just watched the group running away from her and did not start to cry. Everyone was too involved in the game to pay attention to the baby. He set down his sauce and started for the stairs, intent on rescuing his youngest granddaughter, when he saw Bobby move from where he'd been, pick up a stray ball and walk over to Kerri. He smiled warmly as he watched the big man let himself get tackled by the little girl. "Alex," he called. "Come here."

She joined him at the railing. "What is it, Dad?"

"Look." She looked down at the game Bobby was playing with her niece. "Kerri was trying to play with the older kids, but she just couldn't keep up. So Bobby found a ball and now he's playing the game with her."

She leaned her arms on the railing and watched as he played with the little girl. Her mother and three sisters-in-law joined them at the railing. Holly, Kerri's mother, looked at Alex. "Does he have any kids?"

"No. He's just really good with them."

She smiled as she continued to watch her gentle partner play tackle with the toddler. With Bobby in her life, everything was a surprise, it seemed. Good or bad, she never knew what he was going to come up with next. Her father laid a hand on her back before returning to the grill.

When the call went out that the food was ready, she watched Bobby grab Kerri before she could be trampled by the older kids. She put her little arms around his neck and he carried her to the deck, where he handed her off to her mother. Holly smiled at him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you," she said quietly.

Alex waited by the railing for him to come over to her. "What?" he asked at the look on her face.

"I saw you playing with Kerri."

"The others were too fast and too rough for her. She needed someone to play with."

She smiled at him and laid her hand on his arm. "Thanks for watching out for her." He just nodded and she gave his arm a tug. "Come on. Let's eat. I'm starving."

They headed across the deck to join the rest of the family at the table.