A/N: Yay, I'm back. I don't really know how to describe this chapter. It's cute. It's sad. It's flirty. It's everything you want.

"Danny, this is silly," C.J. laughs. There's a bandana covering her eyes and Danny holds her hand as he leads her up what C.J. assumes is a driveway. They've looked at about a dozen different houses in the past week but none of them really felt like a place they could one day call home. But Danny had found this house while driving home from the supermarket and hasn't been able to shut up about it since. C.J. thinks it's kind of sweet – although she would never tell him – how he got so excited, he made her take a day off work just to see the house.

"Don't make fun," Danny tells her and stops. "You secretly think it's cute."

"I really don't," C.J. insists as she moves her head, trying to see past her nose.

"Ey! No peaking," Danny pokes her side.

"I wasn't peaking!" C.J. yells. She was totally peaking though.

"You ready?" Danny moves behind her and unties the bandana.

"Danny, please," C.J. sighs. "It isn't that big of a deal." The bandana is still covering her eyes. "It's just a house."

"It's our house," Danny says and removes the bandana. The sunlight blinds C.J. for a second and she blinks a few times before her eyes adjust.

"Maybe – Oh, my god." C.J. covers her mouth with her hands, her eyes widen as she looks from Danny to the house and back again. "That's our house," she whispers, and Danny moves closer, wrapping his arms around her waist, his head resting on her shoulder.

"Do you like it?"

"Danny… I love it." C.J. scans the outside of the house. There's a small porch and a garden that goes all the way around. "The tree. Danny, there's a tree."

"Yes, I can see that," Danny laughs.

"No, but… We can put a swing up there. Or a treehouse. Or both." Tears form in her eyes.

"You want a treehouse?" Danny teases.

"Not for me, nimrod. For Peanut." C.J. slaps his hand and turns around. "It's perfect," she whispered as she leans in a softly kisses his lips.

"You wanna go inside?" Danny asks. A giant smile spreads across C.J.'s face.

"Yeah." Danny takes her hand and leads her to the front door. It's red. Like the one they had in the first house she can remember. Before they moved to a bigger one. Before her mother died. Danny knocks on the door.

"Someone's inside?"

"The real estate agent," Danny says. "You know, the person who's trying to sell us the house?"

"Right. Yes. That person." The door opens and a small woman in a green suit greets them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Concannon, come on in," she says, a bright smile on her face.

"Oh, we're not-" C.J. begins but Danny cuts her off.

"Nice to meet you. Sarah, is it?"

"Yes, that's right." They all shake hands before they're led inside. C.J. hardly pays any attention to what she's telling them as they walk through the empty house. As they enter the kitchen, C.J. can almost see Danny cooking breakfast while their child sits in a highchair babbling away. She sees the pictures they're going to put up on the fridge and hears the laughter that will fill the room in the mornings. In the living room, C.J. imagines the nights they're going to spend on the sofa, watching trashy TV after they've put the baby to bed. C.J. slips her hand into Danny's as they walk, giving it a small squeeze.

"I love it," she whispers to him on their way up the stairs. Danny kisses her cheek.

Sarah leads them into the bedroom and stays in the hallway as they have a look around.

"Don't say something dirty," C.J. mumbles. "Or inappropriate." Danny runs his hand down her back, dangerously close to her ass.

"I would never," he whispers, his lips brushing her ear.

"Danny," she hisses but there's a smile on her face. They step back out where Sarah is waiting to lead them down the hall into the next room.

"I thought this could be the baby's room," Danny whispers as they step inside. Sarah tells them something about the morning sun or natural light but C.J. isn't listening. She thinks about the small crib they could put beneath the window and the shelves they could put up and fill with books about animals or flowers or whatever those baby books are about. C.J. lets her hand rest on her stomach as she wanders around the room, taking it all in.

"It's perfect," she mouths. After Sarah has showed them the guest bedroom and the basement, she leaves C.J. and Danny to have a look around on their own. "Danny, I can't believe this."

"Do you really like it?" Danny walks closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Danny, it's amazing. I love it," she assures him, her hands resting on Danny's shoulders.

"There's a pool in the back," Danny informs her, leaning closer.

"Is that so?" C.J. lifts her eyebrows and smirks at Danny.

"Mhm," he says before placing a soft kiss on her lips. C.J. has a feeling this won't be the last time he'll kiss her like this. In their house. In their living room. C.J. pulls away.

"Danny?"

"Yes?" He brushes a strand of her hair behind her ear. It's curlier than it used to be. She likes it better that way.

"The house seems awfully big for only three people, don't you think?" C.J. asks, her finger delicately tracing one of his buttons.

"What? You want a dog or something?" he laughs. C.J. rolls her eyes at him.

"No." She pauses. "I'm just saying… maybe Peanut won't be the only tiny human living in this house." A smile spreads across Danny's face as he draws circles on her back.

"Really?"

"I mean, I always thought being an only child must be so lonely. I have two brothers and you have like a million siblings."

"Only four," Danny cuts in.

"Still a lot." C.J. offers him a soft smile. "I wouldn't want our kid to miss out on that. Just something to think about."

"Yeah. Something to think about." Danny kisses her cheek before untangling himself from their embrace and leading C.J. back into the kitchen where Sarah is waiting for them to talk about what to do next and C.J. isn't as scared as she thought she would be.

Back in the car, C.J. looks out the window and can't stop ta few tears from rolling down her cheeks as they drive away. She hurriedly wipes her face with the sleeve of her sweater.

"You okay?" Danny asks as they stop at a red light. He looks over at her and C.J. waves her hand, dismissing him.

"Hormones," she mumbles. But Danny's not buying it.

"C.J…."

"It's nothing."

"You can tell me." The light turns green. Danny turns his attention back on the road.

"It's just… that house… It reminded me of the house we lived in until I was five. With the red door and the tree and the scary basement."

"You thought the basement was scary?" C.J. laughs.

"It was dark!" she insists.

"Yes, you're right. It was terrifying."

"Don't make fun of me." C.J. playfully slaps his shoulder. "I'm carrying your child, you have to be nice to me."

"I am nice to you," Danny reminds her.

"Most of the time."

"All the time," Danny corrects. C.J. huffs.

"Yeah, right." He really is though.

"Anyways… you were saying?" C.J. smiles down at her hands.

"Oh, nothing. It just reminded me of my mom."

"Tell my about her," Danny says.

"My mom?"

"Yeah. If you want to." Danny smiles at her for a second before looking back at the road.

"She was… She was amazing. She would read me and my brothers a story every night before we went to sleep. And she would braid my hair in the morning. After she died, I never wore braids again." C.J. smiles sadly at the memory but the thought of how one day she might braid her own kid's hair warms her heart. "And whenever I was sad, I would crawl into her lap and tell her about what was bothering me. And she would kiss my forehead, make tea and tell me everything was going to be okay." C.J. feels quiet tears roll down her cheek and she doesn't do anything to stop them. "I told her everything. Even when she was sick- when she was dying in the hospital, I would visit and tell her all about my day. And in for maybe an hour, everything was back to normal. For one hour, my mother wasn't sick, and I wasn't about to say goodbye to her. For one hour, everything was fine." C.J. takes a deep breath before continuing. "And then a doctor would come in and roll her out of the room so she could have her chemotherapy or take some blood test or try to make her eat something. And I would have to wait outside in the hallway until my dad came to pick me up. Sometimes I sat out there for hours, reading the books my English teacher gave me, and when I came back in to say goodbye, I could see that she'd been crying." They stop in front of their apartment building. Neither of them moves. Danny looks over at C.J. and reaches out to take her shaking hand in his steady one.

"When did she get sick?" Danny asks carefully.

"When I was six," C.J. says, looking up to meet Danny's eyes. "It was right after we moved."

"C.J., you're not going to get sick," Danny assures her, squeezing her hand.

"No, I know." C.J. nods, drawing circles on the back of Danny's hand. "The house just reminded me of my mom. That's all. I'm okay. Really."

"You don't have to be okay, C.J.. You don't have to be strong." Danny reaches over and wipes her tears away with his thumb. "You don't have to tell me. And I know you're trying, I know this is hard for you. I only want you tell me what you're comfortable with. But you know I'm here, right?" C.J. nods and moves her head, kissing Danny's palm.

"I know. Thank you." She takes a deep breath. "It's just been a while since I've talked about her."

"You look like her," Danny says and unbuckles his seatbelt so he can turn around to face her. Her eyes are red and puffy, and her cheeks are stained with tears.

"How do you know?" C.J. sniffs.

"I've seen pictures," Danny tells her.

"That's not the same. She was beautiful."

"You're beautiful." Danny leans over and kisses the tip of her nose. C.J. smiles and gently punches his shoulder.

"I was ten when she died," C.J. says suddenly. Danny holds her hands in his. "I remember because it was my friend Cara's birthday. We were only one week apart. We were at Cara's house watching some really bad rom com. I can't even remember what it was. I just know that the phone rang in the other room and that Cara's mom came in, white as a sheet, and asked me to come with her. I knew then. I knew she was dead. I could see it in her face. But she didn't tell me. She just said she would drive me to the hospital. When we got there, my mom's hands were already cold." C.J. squeezes Danny's hands tightly as if to make sure that he's still very much alive. He leans over and kisses her tearstained face. His beard tickles her skin, making her giggle.

"I love you, Claudia," he tells her.

"I love you," she mouths and leans her forehead against his.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm a sucker for backstory so this was fun. Reviews and comments are as always deeply appreciated.