Danny fully realized that some of his best plans and ideas were results of listening in and eavesdropping. What could he say? He had always been a curious fellow, and his ears picked up on random conversations. He just had to listen to make sense of them! (A skill, he would later realize, that would be very helpful for a police officer). So when he heard his girlfriend talking about a romantic time with her friend, he had to listen in.

"Question eight," Simone started. "Would you rather be taken to a fancy restaurant or have a fancy, home cooked meal?"

"He's cooking?" Linda asked. She, Simone, Ally, and Cherry were gathered at the picnic table, hunched over four notebooks and a magazine.

"Yes."

"Then cooking."

"Really?" Cherry wondered, not expecting that.

"Yeah! Any guy that will cook for me, make it all cute and romantic like Lady And The Tramp, and then clean up afterwards while I do nothing?" She clicked her tongue, "yes, please."

"Unrelated," Ally interrupted. "What do you want him to cook for you?"

"Oh, I love a good pasta."

"That's the Italian in her." Simone smiled as she tilted her head towards Linda.

"And garlic bread. With drippy candles and soft music."

Danny didn't need to hear anymore. He knew what he had to do.

Mary smiled at Danny when he appeared by her side that Wednesday evening. "Hello."

"Hey." He was intently starring into the pot of red sauce. "Spaghetti?"

"Spaghetti."

"Need help?"

She was surprised to hear that. Danny never wanted to help making dinner. That interest belonged to his siblings. "I could always use help."

"Okay. What do I do?"

She handed him the spoon, "cook the meat."

"How do I do that?"

"It's easy; I'll show you."

"Thank you for your help with dinner, Danny," Mary said during dinner, all eyes turning to him.

"You helped?" Frank, who was miraculously home on a Wednesday night, looked at his son.

Danny only shrugged, semi-slurping his pasta noodles.

"I helped too!" Seven year old Jamie piped up, spaghetti sauce on his face. "I got Mama the onions and garlic and peppers!"

"Yes, you did, Jamie, and I appreciate that," Mary smiled. "Wipe your chin, sweetie."

"Oh."

"So why the sudden interest in pasta?" Erin asked. There was no way her brother felt like helping. There had to be an ulterior motive.

Danny shrugged, "a guy can't help his mother?"

"This sudden pasta interest... it wouldn't have anything to do with a certain Italian girl named Linda O'Shea... would it?"

"Ohhh!" Joe's voice was loud. "That makes sense! You Wanna know about pasta cause she likes pasta. Right?"

"I just felt like helping Mom, that's all," Danny lied smoothly, reaching for his water glass.

"Right," Joe and Erin said together.

Frank looked at his eldest, "want to elaborate?"

"No."

So Jamie started talking about his art project, and the previous conversation was forgotten.

Danny walked up to Linda on Thursday, and after a kiss hello, he asked, "you staying with your grandma?"

"Yeah, I mean," she lowered her voice to a whisper, talking through gritted teeth. "They won't let me stay at either parent's house anymore."

"I was just checking. Cause I needed to know where I should pick you up."

"Pick me up?"

"For our Saturday lunch date."

"Saturday lunch date?"

"Mhmm. Wear that dress you wore Tuesday."

Linda waited on the swing of her front porch, closing her eyes as the warm breeze blew through her carefully styled hair. She wondered what Danny had in mind for today. She hoped it involved ice cream- it was the perfect day for it!

She smiled and jumped off the swing when she saw his car pull up. She quickly shouted into the house, telling her Nonna that Danny had arrived.

Danny smiled as Linda came almost skipping down the walkway; she really was something special. He knew her "secrets", knew about her "bad habit", knew about her shitty, shitty parents. Yet, despite all that, she was usually smiling and laughing and having a fun time. He wondered how she managed to do it.

"Hi!" She smiled at him as she opened the car door and slid in. She was immediately met with a kiss- a kiss that took her by surprise. Once the brief shock was over, she returned it. A smirk on her face, she nearly teased, "well hello to you too."

Danny only grinned, "I hope you like what I've got planned."

"Oh I'm sure I will!"

They walked through the house, into the kitchen, where Danny told her, "you gotta close your eyes."

She felt her heart flutter. She briefly bit her lip before closing her eyes.

"No peeking."

Linda thrust her hand out, "you have to guide me. I have enough trouble with balance when my eyes are open!"

He laughed lightly, grabbing her hand. Carefully, he lead her out to the backyard, making sure to watch where she was stepping. He didn't want her to fall and hurt herself. He dropped her hand, "ready?"

"Ready for what?"

"Open your eyes!"

She did, and as soon as she saw the table, she gasped. "Danny!"

Linda walked to the small table, ran her hand over the checkered table cloth. It was set for two, with drippy candles and cute place cards.

"Did you do all this?"

"Yes."

"For me?" She turned around, her fingers laced and her hands over her heart.

"Yup. There's spaghetti and garlic bread inside. I'll get them- I didn't want them to go cold." He was gone before she could say more.

"You made this?" Linda wondered, very skeptical. He had told her about his adventures in the kitchen, and how they always ended in disaster with a burn or a sliced finger.

"Uh huh."

"No way."

"Yes way."

"But it's actually good?"

"Thanks a lot," he said, feigning offense.

Linda quickly looked up, putting a hand over his. "No, that's not what I- I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"You didn't. I was just teasin'."

She frowned at him, then dipped her fingers in her water glass and flicked water at him.

He laughed, "hey! This is a new shirt!"

"And it's just water. It'll dry."

So, devious as ever, he took a partially melted ice cube from his glass and tossed it at her. It hit her in the shoulder, landing in her lap.

She gasped, "oh, you're gonna get it!"

She stood up, and their lunch date quickly turned into a game of 'catch me'. Danny won of course- how could Linda win when she was wearing those wedges?

When his arms came around her, she gasped. When he started to spin her around, she squealed in delight.

Unknown to the happy couple, Mary had been watching from the upstairs window, under the guise of "cleaning". She grinned and said to no one at all, "they're going to marry each other. I'd bet my life on it."