"Sonny!"

Dominick Carisi braced himself as a blur clad in a Sonic the Hedgehog t-shirt launched at him. The blur wrapped his arms around Carisi's waist and Carisi staggered. "Whoa! Super Sonic Spin Attack!" he laughed.

"Hi Sonny!" A pair of blue eyes looked up at him excitedly.

"How you doin', Jacob?" Carisi grinned, peeling the eight-year-old off of him. "Ready to go hang for awhile?"

"Yeah!" Jacob turned, and waved at his grandmother, who was still standing next to the open taxi door. "Bye Grandma Lola!" he called.

"Have fun and be safe, you two!" the older woman waved back.

"Five thirty, same as always," Carisi promised her. He clapped Jacob on the back. "All right, kiddo. Food or fun first?"

Jacob bit his bottom lip. "Ummm…" he dragged out the word. "Food!"

"My thoughts exactly. My friend Amanda invited us over for supper tonight," Carisi explained. "We're about a block from her place."

"Can she cook?"

Carisi grinned. "Nope, that's my job."

"Wait. She invited us over for supper but you have to make it?" Jacob wrinkled his nose. "That's weird." He let himself be tugged along by Carisi's hand as his Big Brother started walking down the sidewalk, his short legs almost at a run to keep up with Carisi's long strides.

"It is a little, but we're going to be polite and not tell her that," Carisi said patiently. "She's letting us use her kitchen." He glanced down as they came to a crosswalk, and winked. "And, I'll have you know, she's got a Nintendo Switch and Mario Kart."

Jacob's mouth dropped into an o. "Can I be Donkey Kong?"

"You eat everything on your plate and I'll consider it," Carisi decided. They crossed the street and Carisi led him up the stairs of Amanda Rollins's building. Carisi let himself in and knocked on Amanda's door. He heard running footsteps and the sounds of the chain being unlocked. "Hi Uncle Sonny!" Jesse Rollins greeted him as she swung the door open.

"Hey," Carisi said. "What'd your mom tell ya about opening doors for strangers?"

"Oh, right!" Jesse slammed the door shut, nearly catching Carisi on the nose. Carisi knocked again. "Who is it?" Jesse singsonged through the door.

"Uncle Sonny," Carisi called. He smiled at Jacob and added, "And a friend!"

"Mom, can I let him in?"

Carisi couldn't hear Amanda's response but assumed she must have said yes, as Jesse opened the apartment door again. She frowned when she saw Jacob standing there with her Uncle Sonny. "Who are you?" she demanded.

"Jess, that's not nice," Carisi chided. "This is my Little Brother Jacob."

Jesse stared up at Carisi. "He's your brother?"

"Little Brother," Carisi explained. "With capital letters. Me and Jacob hang out once a week."

"Sonny is my friend," Jacob said staunchly, his tone daring Jesse to suggest otherwise.

"And if you want supper tonight, Jesse, get out of the doorway and let them come in," Amanda Rollins told her daughter as she came out of the bathroom. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail and she was wearing jeans and holding Billie in her arms. "Hi," she told Carisi breathlessly. "Little Miss Billie had an accident before you got here, which is why you got stuck with the hostile doorwoman."

Billie's lower lip quivered, and Carisi plucked her from her mother's arms and started bouncing her on his hip even as he leaned down to help Jacob pull off his shoes. "Hiya, beautiful," he greeted the toddler. "Can you say hi to Jacob?"

Billie took one look at Jacob and buried her head in Carisi's shoulder. Jacob reached out tentatively and patted her on the back. "Hi, Billie," he said.

Carisi caught Amanda's eye over the top of Billie's head and winked.

"Okay, lemme see those hands."

Jacob held his hands up, fingers spread, and Carisi inspected them. "Nope, don't see any germs." He turned to Jesse. "And you?"

"They're clean, Uncle Sonny!" Jesse laughed, holding her hands out the same way.

Carisi turned to Amanda and lightly flipped over her palm. "And yours?" he questioned.

"No longer covered in baby poop," Amanda laughed. Jacob and Jesse wrinkled their noses.

"Good. Your job," Carisi told the kids, "is to very carefully help Miss Amanda set the table."

"I help Grandma Lola do this all the time!" Jacob informed him. He turned to Jesse. "I can show you where the cups go," he offered.

"I know where they are!" Jesse exclaimed. The two of them went over to the dishwasher and began unloading it, talking about washing dishes. Carisi turned to Amanda. "I completely forgot today was my Big Brother day with Jacob when I scheduled this," he apologized again. "Thanks for lettin' him come over."

"It gives Jesse some socializing besides her little sister," Amanda replied with a smile. She slipped an arm around his waist. "Besides, it's the cutest damn thing watching you with him."

"You got daddy issues?" Carisi couldn't resist.

Amanda leaned into him and looked up. "Save it for later, Counselor," she whispered.

"I'm holdin' you to that," Carisi replied seriously. He gave the sauce on the stove a final stir. "How's that table comin', you two?" he asked. "'Cause this spaghetti ain't gonna eat itself!"

"We're ready!" Jacob pronounced. He carefully put down a fork, and then hopped into a chair. Jesse sat down next to him.

"Mommy, don't forget Billie," Jesse reminded her mother. Amanda glanced into the living room, where Billie was babbling in her pack and play, a Molang cartoon on low on the television.

"I think she'll be okay for a little bit," Amanda told her daughter. "Let's have some big people time, huh?"

"Yes! No babies!" Jesse exulted. Carisi bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing as Amanda shot her daughter a Look.

The four of them ate spaghetti and garlic bread, and when they were finished, Carisi had the kids help load the dishwasher while he finished the bigger dishes and Amanda fed Billie.

Jacob closed the dishwasher door with a click. Then, he turned to Amanda. "Sonny said you had a Switch!" he said. "And Mario Kart!"

Amanda nodded. "We do," she said. "Are you good at video games?"

Jacob shrugged. "I'm okay. Grandma doesn't have any video games, so I only get to play when Sonny takes me to the arcade, or we play on his PS4."

Amanda raised an eyebrow. "Really? What games do you play?"

"Make the Burger," Jacob said. He gave Sonny a frown. "He says I'm too little to play The Last of Us."

"Hey, we can when you're old enough," Carisi assured him. "But not before. Your grandma would have my head." He clapped his hands together. "All right, tonight I vote it's Mario Kart! An all out battle for Mario Kart supremacy."

Jesse hopped off the couch to find the game, and passed out the controllers. "Mommy gets to be Link!" she announced.

Carisi glanced sideways at Amanda. "What?" Amanda shrugged. "He's cute. It's the ears."

Jesse handed a controller to Jacob. "You can pick first," she said, as the character selection screen came on. Jacob thumbed expertly over to Donkey Kong. Jesse immediately went for Peach.

Now it was Amanda's turn to look at Carisi. "Shy Guy?" she questioned. "Really?"

"It's the eyes," Carisi said seriously. "I can't say no to that face."

The four of them went through the mods for their vehicles while Billie bounced a doll in her pack and play.

"Wait!" Carisi objected, as Jesse chose the track. "Rainbow Road? Right off the bat?"

"It's pretty!" Jesse replied, as if that was obvious.

"It's fun when you fall off," Jacob added, "'cause the cloud things put you back up there."

"Scared, Carisi?" Amanda asked. "Is this too much on the edge for you?"

Carisi narrowed his eyes and settled back on the couch. "Let's race."

"I'm bein' targeted!" Carisi objected as the final lap began, and he spun out after being hit by a blue shell. "Really, Jess?" he questioned Jesse. The girl giggled as Carisi dropped to third behind her and Jacob.

"Stay out of first," Amanda offered, "and you won't have this problem!"

"This is a conspiracy," Carisi muttered. He dodged Jacob's banana peels and raced around a curve. The two kids were laughing and narrating their way around the track.

"We're gonna beat you, Sonny!" Jacob laughed.

"Yeah, we're gonna wi-innn," Jesse announced.

Carisi thumbed the joystick and managed to pass Jesse, swinging himself back into first place. "Not today, kiddos," he grinned as the kids both groaned. Shy Guy rounded the final curve.

Bullet Bill came whipping past him and over the line. "Aw man!" Jesse whined.

Carisi blinked, and looked over at Amanda, who had a smile on her face. "I told you to stay out of first," she shrugged.

Carisi helped Jacob into his sweatshirt sleeve and zipped it. "Tonight was awesome," Jacob proclaimed. He looked at Jesse and Amanda. "Can I come over and play again sometime?"

Amanda smiled. "We'd love to have you. It was nice to meet you, Jacob."

"Bye, Jacob!" Jesse waved. "Bye, Uncle Sonny!"

"Come on, Jake, Grandma's waiting for us," Carisi said. He pulled the door open and Jacob bounded into the hall.

Amanda followed them out. "Are you coming back over? Billie said, 'Sonny, book?'"

"Sure. Lemme make sure Jacob gets to Grandma okay, and then I'll head back this way," Carisi said.

"Good." Amanda moved to close the door. "Don't hit any banana peels on your way back," she added.