Alex stepped into the house, instantly curious about the aroma filling the air. He hiked his eyebrows in wonder, "Jo?"

He heard a loud clatter in the kitchen, "Hey! Don't come in here. I'm ummm…just finishing up some cleaning."

Alex chucked to himself and walked towards the kitchen, "Since when do you clean?" He stopped suddenly and felt his eyes widen in a mixture of surprise and horror as he took in the huge mess. Several pans and boilers littered the stove and countertops along with several used bowls and empty cans, "What the hell happened in here?"

Jo gave him a frustrated look, "I tried to cook, that's what happened in here."

Alex snickered as he continued to look about the room, "Why?"

She huffed and crossed her arms, "Cause I wanted to."

He walked over to one of the pots on the stove and pulled out a clump of pasta, "What was it supposed to be?"

She began throwing things into the garbage can quickly, "It was supposed to be lasagna. I know you love it and I was tired of pizza and the woman on TV that lives on the farm made it look so damn simple."

Alex couldn't help but laugh, "You decided to try to cook something you saw on TV? You thought that was a good idea?"

She picked the mass of noddles back out of the water and threw them at him, "Yes, I was trying to be nice damnit!"

Alex caught the ball of lasagna noodles and laughed, "How did you even manage to do this?"

"I don't know!"

Alex could hear the frustration and disappointment in her voice and decided to tone down his mocking, "It still smells good."

Jo laughed slightly and looked at him lovingly, "Liar."

Alex chuckled and walked to stand close enough to hold her hips, "Well it was a solid effort. Literally."

She smiled and shook her head in amusement, "Thanks."

He looked past her to the counter and picked up a jar, "You were making special lasagna? Where'd you get the pot?"

She grabbed the container out of his hand, "That's dried parsley you goof."

He looked around the counter, "So none of this is edible?"

Jo shook her head sadly, "No."

"Not even the bread?"

Jo's eyes widened, "Oh crap, the bread!"

She pushed him out of the way and grabbed an pot holder before opening the oven quickly and mumbling curses under her breath, "That's just great."

Alex stood behind her and looked over her shoulder as she plopped the baking sheet on the stovetop, "Well that one only looks slightly scorched, it may be okay."

Jo turned with her arms crossed to face him, "Yuck it up, jerk. I try to do something nice for you and this is what I get?"

Alex hiked his eyebrows, "This was for me?"

"I knew you would have a rough day so when I saw this on TV today I wanted to try it to surprise you." She looked up meekly, "Surprise?"

"This was ah…." He scratched the back of his head, struggling for words, "Thanks. It's the thought that counts."

Jo started laughing and smiled genuinely at him as he joined in her laughter. She shook her head, "Three hours hard at work over a hot oven and this is the thanks I get?"

"What, you want a medal or something? Look at this place." She smirked as she looked around. He gently took her hand in his and gave it a slight squeeze, "But seriously, Jo, this was great. I've never had anyone do something like this for me….and I really needed the laughs."

She smirked before kissing him quickly on the cheek, "So what kind of pizza do you want to have delivered?"

Alex shrugged nonchalantly, "How about we go out for something? Maybe somewhere nice for a change? Just the two of us?"

Jo's lips turned up slowly into a bright smile, "I'd like that."

Alex nodded and turned to walk out of the kitchen, "Maybe we could go to an Italian place and you can ask them how to not make lasagna noodle balls."

Jo jabbed her finger into his side playfully, "You make fun of my cooking one more time, and that will be your new nickname, mister."