A/N: Blah, blah... Intro... Blah, blah...Don't sue...Blah, blah...Please R&R...Blah, blah...

RS: I'll try to keep up the high standards. Lane: Wow. I love your story. Thank you for reading mine. Demolished and Story: I enjoy writing banter, glad you like reading it. Little Corinthian: Glad you like Tess. I do too. And I know what you're saying about Flack. Yummy. For me, it's the blue eyes. I'm always a sucker for blue eyes.

The phone ringing woke Don out of a deep sleep. He groaned and rolled over. The phone stopped ringing. It started again.

"No. No. No. I had plans, damn it. I never get called in on an on call day." He reached over and picked up the phone. "Flack. Yeah. Be right there." He rolled out of bed and jumped in the shower. He was shrugging on his jacket as he punched Tess' number on his cell. He growled a little as her voice mail kicked in. "Hey, Tess. Don. I'm sorry. I actually got called in. World series tonight. If ya wanna catch the game with me, give me a call. I'll even let you root for those guys. Anyway. Call me."

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Tess listened to her voice mail and flipped her phone shut. She sighed and poured a cup of coffee. She poured a large dollop of creamer in and stirred. Her roommate looked up from the bagel she was buttering. She clucked her tongue at Tess and shook her head.

"He bail on you?"

Tess took a sip of coffee. "Got called in." She shrugged. "He sounded genuinely sorry."

"Yeah, sure," the other woman shook her head again.

"Be nice, Bette. He really did sound sorry. Asked me to catch the game with him tonight. Said I could even root for the Tigers."

"How romantic," commented Bette sourly. She scratched between the tight black braids on her head.

Tess smiled. "Actually, quite a sacrifice on his part. You don't understand how big a Yankee's fan he is."

"Isn't every guy in New York?"

"I'll bet if you look hard enough you could find a few Mets fans."

"I don't really care to work at that. You can keep all of the sports fanatics." Bette took a bite of bagel and chewed. "So you gonna catch the game with him?"

"Probably. I like him. He's cute too."

"And he's into sports. But he's a cop. Bad schedule." Bette waved her bagel at Tess.

Tess shrugged. "I'm not exactly unbusy. Besides, I'll get a chance to get my quizzes graded. No distractions later. You might try it some time."

"Not a chance. That's what Sunday nights are for. Same as the kids. You gonna go to a bar?"

"Dunno. Don would probably like to go to Sullivan's. Why?"

Bette shrugged. "I was heading over to Peter's. If you wanted to, invite your cop over."

Tess shook her head and sipped her coffee. "First off, not my cop. Second, I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

Bette frowned at her friend. "Why? Have him come over to dinner. You love to cook and

I'll bet that he doesn't get a home cooked meal all that often. You said he was cute."

"Yes."

"So?" Bette wagged her eyebrows at Tess. Tess laughed and threw a dish towel at her.

"Could you be more obvious?"

Bette shrugged. "I'm just saying. You know I won't be coming home tonight."

"And when are you and Peter just going to give in and move in together?"

Bette munched on her bagel for a bit. She looked over at Tess and shrugged. "I like having a place to escape to. And you need someone to split the rent with you. I wouldn't want you to end up out in the cold 'cuz you couldn't afford this place."

Tess looked over the edge of her mug and raised her eyebrows. "Oh. So this is for my benefit. It has nothing to do with your commitment phobia."

Bette grinned and popped the last bite of bagel into her mouth. "You just remember that and be nice to me."

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Don grabbed his hot dog from the street vendor and took a couple of steps away. He took a big bite of the dog. He held it out as a big glob of toppings dropped off the end. His phone rang. He juggled the dog and worked on pulling out the phone.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he growled. Finally he managed to dig it out and thumb it open. "Flack."

"Hi. It's Tess. Bad time?"

"Hey. No. Jus' grabbin' a dog. Listen I'm sorry."

"You said that. You still want to watch the game with me?"

"Yeah. That's what I said." There was a pause. "Ya interested?"

"That would be why I'm calling." She paused again. Don took another bite of his dog. "I was wondering… I mean I know that you like going to Sullivan's and I'm sure your buddy will be there…"

Don swallowed. "Ya tryin' ta say somethin', Tess? Jus' spit it out."

"I could cook you dinner and we could watch the game here."

"Ya askin' me over ta yer place?"

"Yes. But Sullivan's would be fine too."

"Nah. Yer place would be great."

"You haven't seen my pitiful TV yet."

Don laughed. "I'll deal. So what time?"

"7:00"

"Sounds good. See ya then."

"Later, then. Bye." Tess hung up. Don clipped his phone back to his belt. He started working on his dog again. Danny came up with his own hot dog.

"Who's on the phone?"

"Tess."

"Tiger girl?"

Don flashed Danny a look of annoyance. "Yeah."

"Didn't know yer datin' her."

"Been out a couple times," shrugged Don.

"Ya goin' out tonight? Whatdabout the game?"

"Watchin' it at her place."

"Really?" asked Danny incredulously. Don nodded. Danny flashed him a cocky grin. "Ya actually gonna watch the game?"

"Remember she's Tiger Girl."

"Better hope they win." Danny grinned at his friend. "Then again…"

Don scowled at him. "Git yer mind out of the gutter, Messer."

"Come on. Ya ain't that far from it."

"I said lay off, Danny," growled Don.

Danny raised his eyebrows. "Killjoy."

"Get yer own girl."

"I'm workin' on it," grumbled Danny.

"Yeah. I see how good that's goin'." Don ducked as Danny threw a wadded up napkin at him.

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Tess moved around the kitchen with ease. She checked the big pot on the stove, lifting the lip, pausing to inhale deeply and stir. Her eyes closed in bliss and her mouth watered. She tried peering in the oven to check the bread, but the lack of light made it hard to see. Tess glanced over at the couple on the couch. She could just see a shock of reddish brown hair and a twist of black braids over the back.

"I thought you two were going over to Peter's."

Bette turned at looked over the edge of the couch at Tess. She grinned. "Trying to get rid of us before your hot date?"

Peter turned around too. Grey and black eyes now stared at Tess. Tess sighed heavily and crossed her arms over her chest. Peter looked over at Bette and pulled a skinny braid. "You didn't tell me Tessie had a hot date. You said she had some cop guy coming over to watch the baseball game." Peter grimaced. Tess wasn't sure if it was the idea of baseball or that Don was a cop that he found distasteful.

Bette ruffled Peter's wavy hair and smiled affectionately at him. "How many people has our girl here brought home? I consider this a big thing." Bette looked back over at Tess appraisingly. "We're just staying for dinner. We wanna check out this cop guy of yours. You cook enough for an army anyhow. The two of you eat all that and you'll be as big as houses."

"He's not my cop guy. And have you ever heard of leftovers? They are good for packing in your lunch."

'Why reheat when you can get takeout?"

"Quality of food," commented Tess dryly.

"Are you trying to get rid of us, Tess? Have big plans, Tess?" Bette gave her a significant look. Tess threw a dishcloth at her. Bette laughed and slid down the couch.

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Tess looked at the table, set for four. The bread was cut up and wrapped in a cloth. The goulash was keeping warm on the stove. Tess checked the beer in the fridge and the bottle of Bull's Blood on the counter. She glanced at the clock. Ten to seven. The wine had been out for about an hour. She poured a little of the deep, red wine in her glass, swirled it around and took a sip. Tess nodded. She wiped her hands on her apron, took it off and hung it on a peg in the kitchen. She went and too a seat in the overstuffed chair in the living area. She frowned at the TV screen.

"What exactly are you two watching?"

Bette glanced briefly over at Tess then back at the screen. "One of Peter's friends recommended it. It's Czech or Finnish, I think. It's really good."

"If you say so. I prefer not to have to read my movies."

"You don't know what you're missing, Tessie," commented Peter without looking up from the screen. "This guy is really good. And he's Finnish."

"Sure. Whatever." Tess picked up the knitting from beside the chair and started working. Peter looked over at her and just shook his head. "What?"

"You, Little Miss Sporty. Cooking and knitting. Socks again, right? You're just so domestic."

"She's not domestic, just hyper," corrected Bette. She punched Peter softly in the arm. "And don't you convince her not do those things. I find particular benefits to having a roommate who cooks." Bette looked over at Tess. "And I'd like a new hat."

"Your birthday isn't until March. And it's two months until Christmas."

"So in the meantime you'll just let your poor rommie freeze?"

"I've offered to teach you and a hat isn't too hard."

Bette huffed. "I'm not the hyper one."

"I'm not the one with a cold head."

Bette rolled her eyes. "Fine. Be selfish." She snuggled down closer to Peter. "You'll nurse me back to health when I get pneumonia, right?"

"Of course." Peter gave her a quick kiss. Bette stuck her tongue out at Tess. Tess smiled and rolled her eyes. She let herself get lost in the repetition of her knitting.

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