He's late for sure. The text said "Get more cups," but it doesn't mean any cups. It has to be those clear cups that look like tumblers and he knows as he pulls the sweater over his head that he's going 13 blocks out of his way to get the right ones and he's definitely, definitely going to be late.

. . . .

Autumn is already creeping into the city, and as he picks his way through the last of the summer tourists drifting across the pavement like stray leaves all he can think of is that thing Joe says about pencils in You've Got Mail. A bouquet of pencils. More romantic than practical, but he looks down at the plastic bag in his hand and wishes he'd thought to buy pencils and ribbon anyway. She'd love that.

He's finally learned how to be late for things. Fatherhood has given him that, amongst other gifts. He'd be the first to admit it's softened him a little, made him a little easier. A little kinder. For starters none of the tourists are catching elbows as he runs, and when he sees a small figure hunched over in front of him trying to scoop fallen books into her arms he stops to help quickly.

"Good thing it isn't raining," he says as he bends down. A ripped canvas bag dangles from her arm, plain cotton with something screenprinted on the side in black. It takes him only a second to recognize what is printed on the bag. "Goblins?"

She looks up and he realizes how close he is, her green eyes perhaps not as bright as he remembers, but the smile very much the same. "Hey," she says.

"Hey." He opens his own bag and fishes out the sleeves of plastic cups, then hands her the empty bag. "Take mine."

Her eyes crinkle a little as her smile widens. "Danny, right?"

Danny watches her push the books into the new bag and stands before offering her a hand. "I didn't think I'd see you again."

"What can I say? Business is booming. I'm here here for one of my authors." Erica takes his hand and pulls herself up, books now safely tucked into the new bag. "Me, actually."

"Oh you write books?"

"Well, one book."

"Self help?" he asks cautiously.

"No, a novel. It's what I always wanted to do." She crumples the torn Goblins bag and shoves it on top of the books.

"Well, good for you."

"Thanks." She's still smiling, but she looks so serious. "And you? How are things?"

"Good." Danny feels the corners of his lips turn up. He smiles a lot more these days too. "Really good."

"I'm glad." Erica straightens her scarf and shifts the bag to her left hand before extending her right. "It was nice to see you again."

He takes her hand and gives it a firm shake, but as she tries to withdraw it he holds on for a second before letting go. "Listen, whatever it was that you did... I owe you my whole life. Thank you."

"You don't owe me anything. You make your own decisions. If you figured out what you want, then that's all you."

"No, I do. I, uh, made some more dumb decisions after that night. I kept trying to figure out what she wanted and messed it up some more, but what you said stuck with me."

"What was that?" She cocks her head to the side and watches him with a familiar thoughtful expression.

"That I can't keep acting like my way is the best way. It's her story too."

"Well, that's true." Erica smiles. "So how'd your story turn out?"

"Good. Better than good." He pulls his phone out of his pocket with his free hand and turns it to her. He'd taken the picture the first day they'd come back from the hospital. Mindy had squawked at him upon hearing the shutter sound, furious that he'd taken a picture when she wasn't wearing makeup. She'd tried to make him delete it, but he'd just threatened to take more when she fell asleep. He'd have taken her more seriously if she hadn't been grinning like an idiot the whole argument. "He's one year old today."

She leans close to see his lock screen. "They're beautiful."

"That's nothing. He's really big now. He's...he's something else." That stupid smile comes back with a vengeance. "He's his mom all over though. He's got Mindy's temper and since he started crawling we can't keep him in one place for more than a minute. He can kinda walk if you let him hold your hand, but he can't go really anywhere yet and he just gets so mad about it. I think we're in trouble in a couple months when he really gets going."

Erica's fingers are light on his shoulder as she gives it a kind squeeze. "I'm happy for you."

"I'd offer to buy you a coffee, but I don't know how to get to your coffee place and I'm kinda late for the party." Danny pauses. "You wanna come with? There's plenty of food, Ma's been cooking for 2 days and I think Mindy ordered 3 different cakes."

"Thanks for the offer, but I've got places to be." Erica's scarf slips out of place again and she tucks it into her jacket, buttoning it quickly to keep it in place. "How late are you? You need a little help?" Her eyes twinkle mischievously.

Danny Castellano looks at the sleeves of plastic tumblers in his hands. He's kept Mindy waiting too many times and it's tempting to take the shortcut, but some things are worth taking the time to do right. He smiles at his strange guardian angel. "Nah. I've got another stop to make."

. . . .

Mindy greets him with a quick kiss as she hands him a very grumpy little boy with purple icing on his chin. "What took you so long?"

Danny kisses his son's warm hair and shifts him to one arm before reaching into the bag he'd just put down. The bouquet he hands her is classic yellow Number 2s with a green ribbon for good measure. He'd gotten so many things wrong about how to love her the way she wanted to be loved, but the way her eyes light up make him think he might just be getting the hang of it. "I ask myself that all the time."