A/N: This for GUEST who asked about the family dinner in their review of Chapter 4. Speaking of reviews, I'd love to know what my visitors/favouriters think!

FRIDAY DINNER

Jamie hesitated outside his father's house. He had never felt this nervous about entering the family home before. Not even after his Mum's death, or his brother Joe's. Now he took a deep breath and entered the lion's den.

"Uncle Jamie! I haven't seen you in ages!" Sean screamed, running forward to give him a bear hug.

"Hey, Bud." Jamie cuddled his younger nephew and mussed his hair. "I know. I picked up a couple of extra tours. How've you been?" He kept the boy close as they wandered into the kitchen, Sean chattering away.

Over dinner, the talk turned as usual to work. And, as usual, the talk was dominated by Erin and Danny. Finally there was a lull in the conversation.

"What do you think, Jamie?" Erin asked.

Jamie paused for a millisecond and then took his father's advice.

"I think the gutters need cleaning," he stated.

"What?" Erin was confused.

"The gutters need cleaning," Jamie repeated. "I noticed it the other day. There's a huge mud puddle around the side of the house."

"Yeah. He's right, there is." Sean agreed.

"And how would you know that?" Frank queried.

"I saw it with my own eyes." Sean said.

"Yeah, the eyes on your butt cheeks." Sean's older brother, Jack, smirked.

Sean stood up and started gyrating and contorting like a whirling dervish.

"What on earth are you doing?" Danny asked.

"Trying to find the eyes on my butt cheeks." Sean said sassily.

"They're all covered up," his brother pointed out equally sassily.

Sean's hands automatically went to his waistband. But instead he found himself dangling in mid-air.

"Uncle Jamie! Put me down!" he squealed delightedly.

"Are you going to behave yourself?"

"Do I have to?" Sean giggled as Jamie held him around the stomach with one hand and tickled his ribs with the other.

"Unfortunately," Jamie said as he slid his nephew into his chair, kissed him on the head, and returned to his seat.

"How did you know he was going to do that?" Linda asked disbelievingly. Jamie had anticipated Sean's next action, stood up, gone around the table, and grabbed the boy, all before any unmentionables were exposed.

"Guess I'm closer to being a kid than the rest of you old fogies," Jamie joked.

Yep, but my kids aren't stupid and immature, Danny thought. At least, he thought he thought it until he realised a deathly silence had fallen over the group.

"Oops, I wasn't meant to say that out loud," he said, abashed yet unrepentant.

"Daniel! I certainly hope that you didn't mean it at all," Frank remonstrated. "Because if you did, kindly remember we have consequences for degrading and demeaning language."

"Why do you think Uncle Jamie's stupid?" Sean asked.

"Because I'm in a bad mood, that's why." Danny worked hard to dial back the aggro. The last thing he wanted was his father carrying out his implied threat.

Jamie could sense his nephew wasn't going to drop the topic easily. So he quickly spoke up, eager to steer the conversation back to normality. "I've got a day off tomorrow. I'll clean the gutters then," he offered to his Dad.

"Can I help?" Jack volunteered eagerly.

"Sure, if it's okay with your Mum."

Linda was a bit taken aback. She was not used to being solely consulted about family matters when Danny was right there. But considering what had just happened she was not in the least bit surprised. She glanced at Danny, who just answered with a slight shrug of the shoulders.

"Sure, sounds good," she answered Jamie.

"I'll take them home after Jack's game." Jamie said.

"Good idea," Nicky interjected, addressing Linda. "You and Uncle Danny can do something nice, like a picnic." The last word was slightly emphasised, leaving the adults with no doubts as to what the teen was actually suggesting.

"Nicky!" Henry, who up until now had been enjoying the family camaraderie, spoke up, shocked.

"Picnic sounds good," Danny smirked.

"I want to go on a picnic, too," Sean whined.

"How does fried chicken, nachos, and pancakes with ice cream sound?" Frank distracted the little boy.

"Yum!"

The youngster's sudden enthusiasm sent a ripple of laughter through the group. A pseudo-peace fell over the group. Erin was still befuddled by the night's events, though, and she determined to get to the crux of the matter.

A/N: Next, how does Jamie handle Erin's meddling?