Freddie adopted AJ as her new favorite uncle, even if she never called him that.

She still adored all four of them, of course. Kevin would teach her "grown-up dances" whenever she asked, even if they were stuck on a bus with little-to-no floor space.

Howie bought her pretty, frilly little Laura Ashley dresses. Freddie would run up to Nick, twirling around in a new blue floral print dress, shiny Mary Janes peeking out from underneath, and exclaim, "Isn't my dress pretty, Daddy?"

"Oh," Nick would say, kneeling next to her, "you think your dress is pretty?"

"Uh-huh," she said, nodding emphatically. "Isn't it?"

"Well," Nick said, scooping her up into his arms, "I have to say, darling, I couldn't hardly notice the dress, 'cause you're just the prettiest thing around."

It set Freddie giggling and blushing every time.

Brian was always up for playing sports with her, showing her how to throw a baseball, dribble a basketball, and tackle Nick whether or not he held the football.

But AJ. AJ was the only one Freddie would read with other than Nick. The first time they read together, he suggested The Cat In The Hat, and Freddie rolled her eyes at him in a gesture stolen directly from Kevin.

"That's a *baby* book, Uncle AJ."<.p>

"Oh, it is?" AJ said. "Well then. What's grown up enough for a big girl like you?"

"The Cat In The Hat Comes Back," Freddie said.

AJ managed not to laugh until after he'd put her down for a nap.

AJ got invited to tea parties. He was always given the first picture after she'd drawn one for Nick. He played make-believe, and dress-up, and generic-not-built-with-the-body-issue-inducing-proportions-of-a-Barbie Doll. He was Freddie's second choice for a lap to curl up and sleep in, her second choice for fixing scrapes and boo-boos and soothing away nightmares, and, in general, her second choice for everything.

It was as if she bent over backwards to make up for being afraid of him when he was sick, and AJ wasn't about to argue. He braided her hair, let her paint his nails, and sang her to sleep with "Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear", like Full House's Uncle Jesse.

He kept the conch shell by his bunk.