One of the best decisions you ever made was to live close to home. Not too close, though. You grew up down the street from the beach, but you decided to move into the city to be closer to your job. After you graduated college almost a decade ago, you lived with your parents for a year or so while you figured things out. Once you finally landed your dream job working in publicity for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the commute slowly started to crush your spirit. You finally saved up enough money to ditch your parents and move into the city, getting rid of your almost 2 hour drive to and from work every day. The drive was still short enough to go home to your parents for Sunday dinners every other week. Thank god there's no rush hour on the weekends.

You pulled into your parents driveway and stepped out of the car, breathing in the fresh ocean air. You notice that there are more cars than usual parked up and down the street. The house next had a few people hanging out in the front yard and you could hear laughter coming from the back. You head up the drive way and walk into the front door of your childhood home.

"Howdy!" you greet your dad as you walk straight into the living room. He stands up off the couch to give you a kiss on the cheek and a big squeeze.

"How you doing, Y/N?" he says as he lets go and holds you at arms length.

"Pretty good. Same old, same old."

"How's work?" he asks sitting back down on the couch as you take a seat next to him.

"Oh you know, the post-season is coming up so things are kind of hectic, but exciting as always. They're doing really well this season so we have high hopes for the world series. Fingers crossed."

"That's what we like to hear!" Your parents have always taken an interest in your job. They're the ones who practically raised you at Dodger Stadium after all.

"Where's momma?" you ask realizing you couldn't hear her in the kitchen like usual.

"Oh, she's in our room finishing up getting ready. You know your mother."

You turn to your dad confused. "What do you mean getting ready?"

"Didn't she tell you? We're not doing dinner here tonight, we're going over to AJ's. Didn't you see all the people over there?"

"No, she didn't tell me!"

"Didn't tell you what?" your mom questions as she strides into the living room while putting her earrings in. You check out her cute top paired with her white jeans and sandals. This is her going out outfit! You finally notice your dad dressed in a similar manner in his dark wash jeans and a crisp button down.

"That we were going over to AJ's! A little warning would've been nice, you two. I'm underdressed!" You take inventory of your own outfit. You were expecting a typical Sunday night in with your parents, but they apparently had other plans. You were in a t-shirt and jeans with your old sneakers.

"Oh, quit whining you're fine. Just go grab a top out of my closet," your mom solves your problem in an instant in a way only a mom can do. You head towards your parents bedroom and do exactly as she told you to do. You take your t-shirt off, pulling out a dark orange linen button down you've stolen from your mom before. You throw the top on, leaving the top few buttons undone, letting it hang off your shoulders. You cuff your loose jeans a couple times, exposing your hightops. You look at yourself in the full length mirror in the closet and think "that'll do". Heading back towards the living room, you see your mom helping your dad cuff the sleeves on his shirt.

"Ready to go, sweetheart?" your dad looks up at you and asks.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" Your mom grabs a bottle of wine and hands you a six pack of beer as the three of you head out the door. It's a short walk across the lawn to get to AJ's. She had moved in next door a couple years after you moved out to start a family with her husband. Now they have two beautiful boys who your parents look after on occasion. You've spent a decent amount of time hanging out with her family yourself, spending days on the beach with AJ and the boys. You know she's a bit famous from working on Criminal Minds for years now, but you haven't actually checked out the show before. You've met a few of her friends, but nowhere near as many people as you'll see tonight.

You walk up the few stairs onto their front porch, following behind your parents. Your dad knocks and AJ opens the door almost immediately.

"Y/D/N! Y/M/N! I'm so glad your here!" she greets your parents not yet seeing you hidden behind them. You dad gives her a kiss on the cheek and you mom gives her a hug, handing her the bottle of wine.

"Don't forget about me!" you laugh, finally showing yourself.

"Y/N! They told me you might be coming! I'm so glad your here," she says as the two of you embrace.

"Well, that's more than they told me! I was just informed of your little shindig ten minutes ago, but thanks for having us," you smile, letting go of your friend.

"Thanks for being here! And thanks for the booze. No such thing as too much beer," she says spying the six pack in your hand. You parents have wandered off after spotting a few more of your neighbors.

"Where should I drop these?" you ask, holding up the beers.

"Follow me!" AJ leads the way out the back door to a table covered in huge buckets of ice full of beer and seltzers. She sets the bottle of wine down next to a bunch of others and you pull out one of the beers you had brought. Your mom always buys your favorite IPA when you come around. You pop the top and take a drag turning to AJ who is finishing refilling her own glass of wine.

"So what's the occasion?" you finally get to ask.

"Oh, just a little end of summer barbeque. Some family, a handful of friends, lots of neighbors."

"Where are the babies?"

"Oh, Pheonix has already passed out on the couch and Mekhai is running around here somewhere. I'm sure he'd be thrilled to see you, I didn't tell him you were coming."

You heard a crash and you both turn your heads to see what the commotion was about. One of the neighbors has dropped a plate and it shattered on the ground.

"I better go sort that out," AJ sighed and rubbed your shoulder.

"No worries, I'm going to go track down your kid. Good luck, babe," you say as she walks off. You scan the back yard not seeing the little blonde head anywhere. You make your way inside the house and still no luck, but you did give your parents a nod from across the family room to check in. No matter how old you are you'll always feel like you need to let your parents know you're doing alright. The only place you hadn't looked would be the front yard so walk towards the porch. You stop at the top of the stairs to breath in the sweet ocean air again and take a swig of your beer.

"Y/N!" you hear a yell coming from the end of the porch. You turn to see that little blonde head you've been looking for running straight for you. You get down on one knee and brace yourself for impact as the boy runs into your arms. You give him the tightest squeeze you can muster up without spilling your beer.

"Hey kiddo, I've missed you," you tell him with a kiss on the cheek. He immediately wipes the kiss off his cheek with his shirt sleeve. You take this action as an invitation to attack the boy with kisses all over his face as he squeals and tries to escape the torture.

"Help! Help me! Uncle Matthew, help me!" he yells through his laughter, still squirming. You slow down your assault and finally release him. You realize that the two of you weren't alone when Mekhai runs out of your arms and into the arms of a tall, curly-haired man. He lifts the boy up and throws him over his shoulder as they both giggle.

"Buddy, you know better than to refuse kisses from a pretty girl. I thought I taught you better than that," he jokingly scolds the boy. You watch the two wrestle around in amusement until the man finally sets Mekhai down on the ground and he immediately runs into the house to escape the both of you.

"You must be Uncle Matthew," you turn to the man still laughing a bit. "I'm Y/N."

"Yeah, just Matthew does the trick," he smiles and reaches out to shake your hand. You grab it and give it a shake, smiling back.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Matthew. Now how'd you get to be Uncle Matthew because I've been trying to get him to call me Aunt Y/N since he was born, but it never stuck."

"To be honest, mostly bribery. It's too cute and I had to make sure he'd keep it up."

"Hmm, I'll have to try that. I don't mean to be rude, but how do you know that little rascal?"

"Fair question, I suppose. I work with his mom. What about you?"

"My parents live next door. I live downtown and come through for dinner every couple weeks." You pause and take another sip of your beer. You finally take a good look at the guy and realize he's pretty cute. He's got this curly mop of brown hair that touches the rim of his glasses. A light blue button down hangs on his shoulders paired with some dark blue jeans. The best part though was his bright purple hightops, the same as your own black ones. "Wait, I've heard of you before! AJ told me you play the smart one right?"

"Yeah, you could say that," he laughs and shove his hand in his pockets. He's got an infectious smile that just makes you smile right back. "And what do you do Ms. Y/N? Are you in the industry, too?"

"Oh, no way, Jose. Well, actually kind of if you really think about it. I help run publicity for the Dodgers. There can be a bit of TV involved at times, but not really in the same way as you and AJ." You finish off the rest of your beer. You look around the porch and notice no one else is out in the front yard with the two of you. "Hey, do you want to come grab another drink with me?" you ask out of politeness, but also because you didn't want to leave this cute stranger.

"Yeah, I could use one," he responds raking a hand back through his hair. You make your way through the house to the backyard, weaving your way between groups of people with Matthew in tow. You stop by the drink table and grab two of the beers you brought over.

"Hope you like IPAs," you tell Matthew as you lift the caps off and hand him one.

"Love them. This is actually one of my favorites. You have good taste," responds with a smile, holding the beer up to his lips and taking a swig.

"Uncle Matthew!" The shout coming from your favorite little boy. He stops between the two of you and reaches up towards Matthew. "I want to be tall!" Mekhai demands.

"Oh, you want to be tall? You'll have to do two things for me first," Matthew responds.

"What?"

"Well, first you have to ask nicely."

"Please, Uncle Matthew, can you make me taller?"

"I sure can, but not until you give Y/N a kiss on the cheek," Matthew looks up from the boy and at you, giving you a sly wink. You unexpectedly blush a bit and smile back. The boy turns to you and you squat down to receive a big, wet smooch on your cheek, running back to Matthew immediately after. Matthew hands you his beer and lifts him up by the armpits and sets him on his shoulders. Ah, that's what it means to be tall. Mekhai has the biggest grin on his little face as he laughs and threads his hands through Matthew's hair.

"Uncle Matthew, did you make cookies?" the boy asks hopefully.

"How could I come to your house and not bring cookies? Of course I did!"

"YES! Y/N you have to try the cookies, they're the best in the world!" Mekhai starts rambling on and on about the time he and Matthew made cookies together. You and Matthew notice he was starting to slow down and his voice was getting quieter.

"Do you want to see a trick?" Matthew asks you in a whisper, not wanting Mekhai to hear. Curious, you nod and he starts rocking back and forth from his toes back onto his heels. Mekhai finishes his rant and presses his cheek to the top of Matthew's head, instantly relaxing. It only takes a few minutes and the boy is fast asleep with his arms draped around Matthew's neck. "Is he asleep?" Matthew asks with an eyebrow raised.

"Out cold," you reply, more than impressed.

"You know what, I'm going to go take him up to his room. Do you mind holding onto my beer?"

"Yeah, of course. I'll track down AJ and let her know what's going on."

"Perfect, I'll come find you when he's settled." You watch Matthew make his way into the house, crouching down at the doorway, making sure he doesn't knock Mekhai's head on the doorframe. Damn, that was cute. You snap out of your daze and follow after him, beginning your hunt for AJ. You find her in the kitchen chatting with your parents.

"Hey AJ, Matthew took Mekhai to bed, just FYI," you inform her.

"Double fisting I see," she laughs, noticing you have a beer in each hand. "Was my kid really that much of a terror? He's driving you to drink?" she laughs.

"Oh, you know I love that boy. One for me, one for Matthew." you say lifting each beer up with a smile.

"Who's this Matthew guy," your dad inquires giving you his trademark 'protective dad' look.

"He's a close friend and I work with him," AJ butts in. "I know you two have watched my show. He plays Reid."

"Oh, I know him. He's the handsome one," your mom adds.

"Haha, yes exactly. That's sweet Uncle Matthew, as the boys like to call him."

"Did I hear my name," Matthew sneaks up behind you, lightly placing a hand on your lower back. You offer him his beer back as he squeezes between you and AJ.

"Just talking shit," AJ teases.

"I expect nothing less," he laughs. "Hi, I'm Matthew." He introduces himself to your mom and dad with a polite handshake.

"My parents," you inform him.

"Ah, nice to meet you two. Do you mind if I steal your daughter back? I promised her she'd get some of my famous snickerdoodles before they're all gone."

"Oh, of course, go right ahead," your mom speaks up as your dad gives a silent nod of approval. Weirdos.

"Have fun you two," AJ teases as you follow Matthew to the dining room where all the food is spread out.

Matthew looks over at you, "I'll grab dessert and you grab real food. I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

"Sounds like a plan," you agree, handing him a plate and grabbing one for yourself. The two of you load up your plates and Matthew grabs a couple forks and a stack of napkins. Matthew follows you out to the front porch where you sit side by side on the stairs, setting the plates and your beers between you. You dig into the "real" food first as you chat about work and friends and life in general. You learn that Matthew lives downtown, too, only about a 10 minute drive from your place. You even shop at the same co-op grocery store.

"It's crazy we haven't met before. I've probably seen you a hundred times at the co-op. There's no way our paths haven't crossed before," Matthew says, wiping his mouth clean with with a napkin.

"Yeah, I'm going to put some of the blame on AJ, too. She needs to throw parties more often," you say taking a sip of your beer. "Okay, I think it's snickerdoodle time. I don't want to scare you, but I make a mean snickerdoodle myself."

"Challenge accepted." Matthew hands you a cookie. You take a bite and let out a little moan. He laughs at your reaction and bites into his own cookie.

"Matthew, this is incredible! I don't care that AJ has been hiding you away from me, but I'm pissed that she hasn't told me about these cookies before," you joke.

"Well, I think it's only fair I get a chance to try yours sometime."

"I think that could be arranged."