Autumn's Lullaby - Hawaii 5-0 BB part 2
When Steve pulled up to the house, Danny was out of the truck and up the stairs in a flash. Steve watched from the driver’s side of the truck, having gotten out to let Grace in, as Danny knelt to catch Grace up in a hug. Danny leaned in to whisper something in Grace’s ear and Steve laughed as Grace’s head shot up with a squeal and darted for the truck.
“Uncle Steve! Danno said you have a baby!” She yelled, and Steve could practically hear the screeching noise as she slid to an instant stop in front of him.
He laughed again and hoisted her up into his arms, allowing her to climb into the backseat, “Yup. That’s JJ, which is short for Jonathan Jeffrey.”
Grace lightly touched JJ’s hand while Steve said this before glancing at him, “Like grampa?”
“Yes. In fact, I named him after your grampa as well as my dad.”
“Cool,” Grace breathed, before turning around and hopping out of the truck. By this time, Danny was on his way back to the truck, Rachel at his side. Grace ran to them and slammed into Danny, “Uncle Steve said JJ is named after grampa!”
“I know that already, monkey. I plan on telling grampa as soon as we get back to Steve’s. You want to help set up JJ’s room?”
“Can I?” Grace looked back and forth between her parents and Steve, “Can I really?”
“Yeah, you really can,” Danny said with a laugh before turning to Rachel, “Are you sure the extra night is okay?”
Rachel smiled, “Its fine, Daniel, really. Just drop her off on your way to work Wednesday,” She paused and looked at Steve before cocking her head slightly, “What do you plan on doing with JJ while you work?”
Steve’s smile faded instantly. He hadn’t thought of that at all. In fact, he hadn’t been thinking about anything beyond getting through this first day and settling JJ into his new home, “I don’t know yet. I guess I’ll talk to Chin, see if he knows anyone he trusts that babysits or something.”
Rachel hummed softly, rubbing her chin lightly with one finger, “I’ll tell you what. With Grace off for the summer, I’m working from home. I’m willing to watch JJ until school starts up again. That will give you time to find a trustworthy sitter.”
Steve’s eyes widened and he looked back and forth between Danny and Rachel, stunned. Danny, who looked just as taken aback, was moving away from his ex with his fingers crossed, “Who are you and what have you done with my daughter’s mother?”
“Very funny Daniel. I’m being serious here. I may not have had the chance to get to know Steve very well, but I certainly know I would not be comfortable dropping off Grace with someone I barely know five days a week and when there are emergencies,” She narrowed her eyes at Danny, “I’m just giving a viable option here.”
Danny’s stunned countenance turned thoughtful, “Actually, Steve, that’s a really good idea. And Rachel’s is barely out of the way of the route to HQ from your place,” He glanced at his ex, “Would Stan be okay with that?”
Rachel’s smile turned shark like and caused both men to flinch back a few inches, “JJ will give him something to practice on.”
“I’m sorry,” Danny said, his eyebrows climbing, “Are you implying…?”
“Of course not,” Rachel interrupted, “Not yet, at any rate.”
A wail piercing the air just then and caused three adults and one child’s head to turn towards the truck, “I think you’d better check on him,” Rachel said with a smile.
“Right,” Steve climbed into the back of the truck and looked down at JJ before sighing and unbuckling the carrier. He lifted the infant out and once JJ was secure in his arms, patted his diaper. He may have had his son for less than a day, but he had already found that a simple feel at JJ’s bottom would tell him if the crying was because of a wet diaper. A quick whiff at the bottom after the pat down told him it wasn’t a diaper change his son was in need of, “He’s probably hungry.”
“His formula will need to be warmed up. You’re free to use the microwave here if you would like. It will be easier than trying to drive home with a wailing infant, especially if you wish to save yourself the headache,” Rachel said, walking up to the truck and peering inside. She held out her arms, “May I?”
Steve nodded and passed JJ to Rachel before grabbing the leather satchel Catherine had been using as a baby bag. Steve actually liked its functionality as well as the fact that he wasn’t embarrassed to be carrying it. Once she had both baby and bag in her arms, she turned and walked up and into the house, Grace running after her.
Steve looked at Danny, who gazed back at him with a flummoxed expression, “Was that my ex or is it someone impersonating her? Because while I agree that that is a good idea, the whole conversation was just bizarre.”
Steve climbed out of the truck and shut the door, “It was kind of weird, but I am pretty sure that’s Rachel.”
Danny started towards the house and didn’t bother to reply.
~~
When they got home from Rachel’s, the first thing on Steve’s new list was cleaning out Mary’s old bedroom. Steve had picked that room for JJ’s nursery as it was right next door to the master. Cleaning it and moving the furniture out to the garage for the time being took over an hour. They had had to put Grace on baby duty, meaning that if he started crying at any point, she was to run and get one of them.
Once that was completed, and the truck had been emptied of the newly bought baby furnishings and accessories, Danny found himself at a loss. Steve wanted to be the one to put the room together, something Danny certainly couldn’t begrudge him, and Grace was acting as his helper. Steve was also still in his, ‘oh my God, I’m a father,’ mode, which meant that JJ was nestled down in his carrier two feet from Steve.
Danny decided to clean and get the house looking halfway decent before the Fourth of July barbecue they were having Monday. That was pretty much the only reason he had Grace this weekend. Two weeks in a row and two weekends without her. Thankfully, Rachel did have a heart, small as it could be at times in regards to him, and was allowing him some time during the next two weeks to take the place of bringing her to school.
Periodically, Danny would poke his head into the bedroom and walk away laughing as Steve argued with the seven year old over different pieces from the crib and how to organize them. Twice, Steve and Grace came down to him. Once to change and feed JJ while the second time was to get food for themselves. Danny only gave them milk and half a peanut butter sandwich each as he had every intention of starting dinner. He manfully ignored the twin puppy dog eyes he was receiving from the two and shooed them back upstairs.
When dinner was close to being done, he went up to get Steve and Grace. Steve was in the same spot he had been for the past two hours, poking through the pieces while Grace read from the instructions, “Two hours and you haven’t even got the frame put together yet.”
“Shut up Danny.”
“Be quiet daddy.”
Danny stared at them, “I’m limiting your time alone together, starting now, before you two start ganging up on me. That was way too eerie. Dinner, before you both start getting crabby. Let’s go.”
Steve saluted and climbed to his feet, grabbing JJ’s carrier. Grace followed suit, including the salute, and marched past Danny. Danny cocked his head as he looked at JJ, “You know, it might be easier and more comfortable for him if you put up the pack and play instead of leaving him in the carrier. Give him a little room to stretch.”
Steve looked down at JJ, “You think?”
“Occasionally. Food, before it gets cold. Then I’ll put together the pack and play while you try to finish the crib. Ten to one says JJ will end up in your room for the next few weeks anyway. Might as well have it ready.”
~~
Danny groaned and twisted away as Grace kicked him in the ribs. He didn’t normally mind staying at Steve’s house, but they were down beds now and Danny refused to sleep on the couch. This would be one of those times that he wished he could tell Steve how he felt about him and share his bed, rather than this double bed with his pre-teen daughter who still kicked in her sleep. Sometimes, he felt sorry for whoever would end up married to his daughter if she didn’t outgrow this, but that led to homicidal thoughts of someone ever touching his little girl and he no longer felt bad. It was a wretched circle.
Grace kicked again, this time her heal landing on his kidney, and Danny just gave up the ghost. He would rather be dead tired than a walking bruise. He climbed out of bed and softly made his way through the room, the neon glow of the clock lighting his way. He glanced at it as he slid through the door and shook his head at the two a.m. blinking back at him. Two a.m. on a Sunday. What was the world coming to?
He used the restroom at the end of the hall and then detoured down to JJ’s room. Steve had finished the crib at ten and had, going against what Danny had said earlier, put the infant to bed in the nursery.
When he glanced in, however, he saw that the crib was empty. Shaking his head with a rueful laugh, he turned back up the hall and stuck his head into Steve’s room. Sure enough, the pack and play was up near the head of the bed and Steve was resting on his elbow, watching the baby sleep.
Danny stepped into the room and closed the door but leaving an inch gap, just enough to let in the light from the hallway, “What are you doing up?”
Steve glanced over at him before turning back to the pack and play, “Couldn’t fall back to sleep after I fed him. I put him in his crib, came back to bed and kept thinking that I couldn’t hear him or that I wouldn’t hear him if he cried again if I fell asleep. I went and got him about twenty minutes ago,” Steve looked back at Danny, “Why are you awake?”
“Grace was dreaming of playing soccer again and I wound up being the ball. I was going to go down and watch some TV or something, try to pass out on that God awful couch of yours.” Danny walked over to the bed and sat down by Steve’s feet, “Welcome to parenthood by the way. My dad told me just after Grace was born that every new parent goes through those fears.”
“So it’ll go away?”
Danny laughed softly, “No. I can honestly say that it never goes away. Exhaustion eventually wins out in the end and then you learn to internalize it. As he grows, the worry is going to change from ‘oh god, is he still breathing?’ to ‘oh god, he’s going to get hit by a car!’ and further still to ‘oh god, he’s going to crash the car!’ but it’ll always be there.”
“That is so not helpful at all.”
Danny squeezed Steve’s ankle, “It just gets easier to handle,” He squeezed again and stood up, “All right, I really need to get some sleep.”
“Danny,” Steve said with a sigh, when Danny was a foot from the door, “get in here.”
Danny blinked at the door before turning to Steve, “What?”
“That couch sucks to sleep on. Just climb in and shut up.”
Danny deliberated for a minute, though why he had no idea. This was what he wanted after all. It may not be under the same circumstances, he doubted Steve was going to ravish him in his sleep after all, but still…sharing, “Okay.”
He walked to the other side of the bed and pulled the sheet back before sliding in. The bed was a king and there was sufficient enough room between them that Danny didn’t bother sleeping right on the edge of the mattress. He didn’t want to anyway. He always enjoyed the heat that seemed to emanate from Steve.
“So,” He said after a few minutes of tense silence, during which Steve was like a rock next to him, “This is cozy.”
Steve relaxed with a soft laugh and dropped his head onto the pillow. He rolled over and thumped Danny on the shoulder, “Go to sleep.”
“Sir, yes, sir.”
~~
JJ had only woken up once more after Danny had joined him and Steve was surprised that Danny had slept through it, to be honest. But then again, the man really hadn’t gotten much sleep the morning before, so maybe it shouldn’t have been all that surprising. Once the five o’clock feeding was taken care of and JJ was asleep again which seemed to be all the baby was capable of doing other than soiling his diaper and eating, Steve slipped back into bed, facing Danny. He rested his head on his fist and looked his fill.
Asleep, with his face smoothed out and his hair askew in twenty different directions, Danny looked like a teenager. Seeing this, Steve wondered if he had ever seen his partner sleeping a true deep sleep. Sure there were stake out naps, but Danny never seemed to be able to drop past a dose at those times.
It was weird, seeing Danny so still. He had thought, the few times he allowed himself to, that Danny would move in his sleep the way he moved when awake, which was constantly. This stillness was kind of enduring in a weird sort of way. Then again, Danny had had very little sleep the last two nights. This lack of movement could be just an anomaly.
“Quit staring at me.”
Steve started and pulled his eyes away from the line of Danny’s shoulder. He looked up and met a pair of bleary, blue eyes blinking back at him, “How long have you been awake?”
“Since you fought your way out of bed to feed the boychick,” Danny yawned and turned over onto his side, eyes sliding half closed.
“Boychick? You’re letting your roots show,” Steve chuckled at the Jewish term. He only knew it because that had been what one of his grandmothers friends called him when he was little.
Danny thumped Steve’s hand weakly and then left his hand resting where it had landed, too tired to exert the energy to move it. Steve’s hand twitched under Danny’s and he managed to restrain from turning it over and grasping Danny’s. He met the sleepy gaze and felt his stomach clench. The need to kiss Danny was nearly overwhelming. He decided to comprise with himself and hope that was enough to kill the urge. He leaned over and pressed his lips to Danny’s forehead, “Go back to sleep Danny.”
Steve heard Danny sigh and let his eyes slide shut. He didn’t think he’d sleep but his eyes itched from tiredness. The next time he opened his eyes, he found Danny leaning over him with a funny little smile on his face. He stretched his way through a yawn. Apparently he had slept, “Time izzit?”
“A little after ten. Seems JJ slept for a solid five hour stretch. That is a huge accomplishment,” He paused, “Was I dreaming earlier or did you kiss me?”
Steve cracked an eye open at the hesitancy in Danny’s voice. It was something that was rarely heard, “You weren’t dreaming.”
“Oh,” Danny frowned down at Steve before punching him in the shoulder hard, “If you’re gunna do something, McGarrett, do it right. You don’t wait until the other person is mostly asleep before kissing them, especially a first kiss. If one wants to reciprocate, it is very hard to do so when three quarters of the way into la-la land.”
“Danny…”
“Your timing sucks. Which is just another thing we need to add…”
Steve tried again, “Danny…”
“To the list of things we need to work on…”
“Danny!”
“What?”
Steve let out a soft laugh, “I only kissed you on the forehead.”
Danny stared at Steve a long moment before a look of horror crossed his face, “Oh, oh crap.”
“So you dream of me kissing you?”
“I dream about mutual kissing…” Danny clenched his teeth, the look on his face suggesting he couldn’t believe what was coming out of his mouth, “Look, can we just forget that I said anything? Apparently I don’t have a filter after I just wake up.”
Steve stared up at Danny, his eyes wide and his heart thumping a million beats a minute at the possibility that Danny might return his feelings, “Danny? You?”
“This is not forgetting about it,” when Steve didn’t say anything, still in a bit of shock, Danny exploded, “Yes! Okay? Yes, I want to kiss you and do other things that are unmentionable while children are present in the same room. Are you happy?”
Steve smiled slowly but didn’t answer. Instead, he reached up and ran a finger along Danny’s lips and watched as the blond mans breath stuttered slightly. Danny’s jaw pulsed as he clenched his teeth before he growled, grabbed Steve’s hand, bent over and pressed their mouths together.
It wasn’t a sweet press of lips that Steve had experienced with other people for a first kiss, but it wasn’t a rough attack of lips either. He felt the stubble of Danny’s jaw press against his and the feel and sound of the slight scratching wrenched a groan from his throat.
Danny pulled back and stared at him, his eyes holding a slightly wild tinge to them. He was about to lean back in when a high pitched whimper had both heads snapping to the pack and play. JJ was shifting around in the bassinette, a sure sign that he was waking up.
“That kid has fantastic timing.”
Steve laughed and pressed a quick kiss to the corner of Danny’s mouth before turning and climbing out of bed.
~~
Sunday passed in a slow haze of laziness. Steve and Grace finished the nursery while Danny started prepping some of the salads for their barbecue the next day, deciding to stay out of the way.
Once both were completed, Grace managed to talk Danny into taking her to an early movie. Danny agreed, more for the fact that he had a hard time denying Grace anything than him actually wanting to see any movie that was currently out.
Danny and Grace left, Danny kissing Steve as he walked out the door. Since their first kiss that morning, it was like they couldn’t stop. Every time they had passed each other, or were in the same room, their mouths met. It was like they couldn’t believe it was even happening and had to keep reaffirming it. Because of it, Grace had spent much of that time rolling her eyes or huffing in disgust, like any kid that sees their parent kiss another adult.
Danny had pulled her off to the side to talk to her about it, but didn’t get far before she had asked what had taken them so long. Danny still wasn’t sure what to make of that and wondered if Rachel had something to do with his daughter taking this new shift in his and Steve’s relationship so well.
Steve stood at the door, watching them pull out of the driveway before shutting it with a sigh. He turned and looked around the house, suddenly at a loss. JJ was dozing in his swing and the house was actually spotless thanks to Danny.
He knew what he wanted to do, what he needed to do. His muscles were itching with the need to swim. He hadn’t been in the ocean since Friday morning and he was feeling it. While he still managed to get his exercise in by way of some quick cardio, the need to be in the ocean was crawling all over his skin like an itch that kept moving every time he tried to scratch it. He just couldn’t leave JJ in the house by himself.
Another glance out the back window had an idea popping into his head, but he honestly didn’t know if it was possible. He grabbed his laptop and logged onto the internet, quickly typing into the search engine what he wanted to know. It was about what he figured. Some people said yes, some said no, leaving the choice up to the parents.
Well, he guessed it was a good thing he picked up a package of swim diapers on a whim while he and Danny were shopping. Mostly because he knew he would get an eye roll out of it from Danny. He ran upstairs and changed into his shorts before detouring to the bathroom were he grabbed his beach towel and JJ’s bath towel from the linen closet. He then went into the nursery and grabbed a pair of the swim diapers from the dresser.
Back downstairs, he lifted JJ out of his swing and laid him out on the couch. He pulled off JJ’s clothes and put on his swim diaper before he slathered JJ with baby sun block and placed a baby sized fishing hat on his head. Once his son was ready, he grabbed him up along with the towels and headed out back. Instead of heading straight down to the beach, however, he had a flash of insight and detoured off to the garage.
Steve had learned early on during bath time that JJ was incredibly slippery while wet. So, the garage. Somewhere at the back, there was still a pile of swim toys and floats that had belonged to him and Mary. He was sure he had seen an infant float vest buried in the mess when he was digging out toys a few weeks ago for Grace.
Sure enough, the vest was still there and looked like it was just small enough to slip onto his son’s torso comfortably. That he did down on the beach, his son laying on a beach towel and kicking at the sky. Once he was sure the vest was secure, he slid JJ back up into his arms.
“This, JJ, is the ocean. In a couple of months, we’ll start taking you to city pool and get you swimming lessons. Your grandma did the same for me and Aunt Mary. We both started swimming at four months old. For now, though, we’ll just get you used to the water, yeah?”
JJ’s eyes were wide and he was cooing as he looked towards the ocean. With a smile, Steve waded out into the water, walking out until the water was up to his belly button. When he was sure he had a secure grip on the infant, who was facing forward, he crouched down into the water.
Steve laughed when JJ’s feet first hit the water and his son squealed and pulled his legs up. Steve slid his arm under JJ’s butt, the other secure across his chest to hold him steady, and lowered him again. This time, JJ kicked at the water and when Steve had him in as far as the vest would go, JJ began to splash at the water with his fists like he did during his baths.
Steve didn’t dare put him into the water any further. The waves weren’t high, but every few minutes there was a swell higher than the rest. It just wasn’t a chance he wanted to take, especially as a few of the websites had warned about babies’ immune systems and how fragile they were.
Steve leaned back and floated on his back, JJ lying on his chest but out of the water. Steve gave an experimental kick and shot back towards the beach slowly and laughed again when his son let out a squeal at the movement.
They were in the ocean for a good half an hour before JJ started to get fussy. Steve never had him in the water long enough for JJ to start shivering, but he supposed staring up at the sky for half an hour would get pretty boring after awhile. He went back up to the house and wrapped JJ up in his towel before wrapping his own around his waist.
He stepped into the house and stopped dead in his tracks. Danny was standing there, his arms crossed and a fierce frown on his face, “He was barely in the water, I swear. And his face was nowhere near it.”
“That doesn’t matter Steve. Babies’ body temperatures drop quickly. Why do you think I kept saying his bath water had to be room temperature?”
“I know Danny, I’m not stupid. I checked online and that was one of the things to say to watch for. Take the baby out of the water as soon as he or she starts shivering. I didn’t have him in the water long enough for him to even come close to shivering. He was lying on my chest the whole time and I had a good grip on him.”
“Online? You checked online! Don’t you know that half the things you find online are wrong? Urban legends and stuff heard through the years, repeated and transformed, badly I might add.”
“I checked, okay, and different parenting sites as well,” Steve answered, feeling his temper rising. “I didn’t do it on a whim.”
“Well, maybe you should have thought harder. He’s not a toy, he’s a tiny human being. He’s fragile.”
“C’mon, my parents took Mary and I into the water around that age. We loved it.”
“It’s doesn’t mean that because you’re Aquaman and are able to live underwater that your kid can do it too. At least not now, I’m sure that seeing how lucky I am, he’ll end up just like you. I’m not sure the world can handle two McGarrett’s. And I’m not sure I can either right now. Seriously, what were you thinking? You couldn’t have just asked for my opinion? Unlike you, I’ve been a father for more than five minutes!” Danny knew he went too far when he saw Steve’s face harden.
“Oh, I’m sorry if I’m not Father of the Year after twenty four hours with my son! Not everyone one can be as perfect as Danny Williams, who gets to play dad every other weekend.”
Danny’s eyes narrowed before going into the kitchen, “Fuck you, McGarrett!”
Steve put JJ back in his pack and play before running after Danny, “Wait!” he yelled, catching partner’s arm, “I’m sorry Danny. I didn’t mean it. I know you’re a great father. I wish mine was half as good as you are with Grace. I just got angry.”
“Okay, I said stuff, you said stuff, I wasn’t really nice either to be fair. But seriously, you need any advice, just ask me.”
“You weren't there,” Steve was getting frustrated again. He walked to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water, wrenching the cap of it and flinging it towards the garbage can with more force than was strictly necessary.
“Then call me next time.”
“So what, I'll call you every time I want to do something or because my son is crying and just not bother to try and solve it by myself?” Steve fumed, “C’mon, I’m not going to phone you every time I’ve got a question. I need to learn things for myself, even if you’re here. You had to learn by yourself. I’m not going to rely on you all the time about how to raise my son. That’s not who I am.”
“Look,” Danny said in what Steve assumed was a reasoning tone, “I know everything changed for you all of a sudden, but you can’t just do stuff like that because you are bored. You need to be responsible. He could suffer from hypothermia easily.”
“Danny, are you aware that we are in Hawai’i and that it’s the middle of summer? The water is about 86 degrees right now. It’s almost the same temperature as his body’s. I know you hate ocean and sand, but he’s my son and since we are living on an island, I want him to get used to it as soon as possible. So you’re just going to have to get used to it as well,” the finality in Steve’s voice made it clear that he was done with this subject, even if Danny wasn’t.
Danny sighed, “Just…please, please the next time you want to take him out there, make sure I’m with.”
Steve nodded in acquiescence, “Okay,” He turned around and dug back into the fridge for one of JJ’s bottles, “I thought you were going to a movie?”
“The one Grace wanted to see was already half an hour into it. We just went and got ice cream instead. I brought back a pint for you. It’s in the freezer,” Danny said with a wave of his hand.
“Cool.”
~~
Later that evening, they were back out on the beach. Grace had pouted all the way up through dinner after hearing that JJ had got to go out into the ocean and that she had missed it. Danny had put his foot down at the infant going back into the ocean for a second time that day, so he elected to stay on the beach with JJ while Steve took Grace out to swim and work on her boogie board.
Danny sat down on the blanket and laid JJ on his back in front of him. He idly dangled a set of rattle keys for JJ to bat at while he watched Steve help his daughter stand on the board.
The boogie board had been a compromise between him, Rachel, and Grace. Danny had talked with Steve, who then dragged him to various board shops. All had agreed that a boogie board was a good way to start out if they could find a teacher willing to help her balance on the board. Steve had, not too surprisingly, volunteered for the job with Kono helping when she could.
JJ made a gargling type noise and Danny looked down at the baby before laughing and reaching for the camera he had brought out with him. JJ had managed, without Danny noticing, to pull the top of the blanket down along the sides of his head and was attempting to grab the sand now within reach.
Danny snapped a few pictures, one of which was just in time to catch JJ burying his hand in the sand. Danny laughed again at this and then had to fumble for the camera. JJ was gracing him with a large gummy grin and it was, to Danny’s knowledge, the first smile JJ had let out since Catherine had dropped him off with Steve.
“Okay, boychick, here’s the deal. When daddy comes back up, you gotta give him a huge smile too, okay? Cause let me tell ya, he’s gunna go all pouty on me when he finds out that I got your first smile and that’s just not something I wanna deal with. Sound like a plan?”
JJ cooed at him and started grabbing at the sand again. Danny sighed and reached behind him for the small pillow he had brought out. They might as well get some tummy time out of this.
~~
Steve stirred awake Monday morning, odd feelings twisting his stomach. Part of it had to do with the way Danny was wrapped around him like an octopus he was sure, but the other part felt more anxious. Like something was going to happen. It was a feeling he had had previously, before good and bad events had taken place in his life. All it meant, really, was that he would spend the day paying a little more attention to things than normal.
He glanced at the pack and play and then, after determining that his son was still sleeping soundly, turned to kiss Danny awake. It didn’t take long before the blond was shifting in his arms, “Why? Why do you insist on waking me up, McGarrett, when we don’t have to work? These are times of sleeping in.”
Steve couldn’t help but let a small chuckle out at Danny’s half asleep ranting. Most of the words had been slurred and the rest sighed out like he couldn’t make the effort to say them, “Grace will be up soon.”
Danny grunted in response and slid off of Steve, before burying his head under a pillow, “She’s a big girl. She can make cereal and watch cartoons.”
“Ah, she would, but someone here, not that I’m naming names or anything, promised her pancakes.”
“Promised her your pancakes,” Danny muttered, gripping the pillow over his head as if that would make Steve leave him alone, “I don’t want to get up.”
Steve poked him in the shoulder, “Come on, it’s not like we fell into bed an hour ago.”
Danny lifted the edge of the pillow closest to Steve, just enough to glare out with one eye, “Your son howls like a hungry wolf. I was up with you and unlike you, who most likely went through your entire SEAL career on an hour of sleep, I actually enjoy getting more than three hours of uninterrupted sleep.”
Despite the grumbling, Danny crawled out of bed a few minutes later. The rest morning had passed by smoothly enough. Danny had made breakfast for him and Steve, something small to keep them from raiding the fridge before Grace finally woke up.
JJ had woken before Grace and Danny helped Steve through the morning ablutions of an infant.
Following that was the pancakes with Grace who then commandeered Steve and forced him to watch movies with her in between taking care of JJ. During that, Danny called Kono to remind her to pick up the fireworks that her uncle was providing them for after the city fireworks.
Once that had been settled, Danny had retreated to the lanai with a book he had every intention of finishing before he had to get up to help with the barbeque prep work. Or be a back-seat cook if you listened to Steve’s continuous griping.
An hour passed before he heard the kitchen door being slid open, “Daddy?”
Danny looked up from his book, “Monkey?”
Grace flopped down on the end of the chair, “I have a question for you.”
“Okay?”
“You know in Cinderella, how she wears glass slippers to the ball? Isn’t that a little impractical?”
Danny’s eyebrow rose at the correct use of the word impractical but didn’t interrupt, “She even runs in them! What would happen if she landed too hard going down the stairs and the slipper broke? That would be horrible!”
Danny stared at his daughter for a moment before taking a deep breath and bellowing, “Stephen James McGarrett! What the hell have you been telling my daughter?!” He turned back to Grace, “I am never letting you watch Disney movies with Steve ever again.”
Grace tucked her chin down and blinked up at Danny, innocence personified. That was a Rachel look and Danny had never been able to fight that look. Warily he asked, “What?”
“Steve just left to go rent some more movies. He wants to see just what the evil syndicate of Disney is teaching young and impressionable youth.”
Danny groaned and dropped his head back, “Oy Vey.”
“Uh huh,” Grace said, nodding fast, “He said he would be right back. I think that’s why he sent me out here but…”
“You got sidetracked, I know.”
“Yeah,” Grace giggled, “You didn’t answer my question.”
Danny sighed, “It’s a cartoon. Most cartoons don’t make sense. Like in Looney Tunes where Bugs goes to space a lot and doesn’t need a spacesuit to breathe.”
“Oooh,” Grace grinned, “It’s just people making stuff up.”
“There you go.”
“K! I’m gunna run and check that JJ is still sleepin’, since you don’t have a baby monitor.”
Danny smiled and leaned over, kissing her forehead, “That would be great. Thanks monkey.”
Grace stood up and was starting into the house, before she stopped and cocked her head, “Danno, what’s that smoke?”
Danny looked up and followed her gaze. There was a billow of black smoke wafting over the top of the hedge on the side of the house. Danny frowned and stood up as well, “I don’t know. Maybe someone is burning leaves something,” He walked past Grace and pressed his hand to her shoulder, “Stay here for a minute.”
“K.”
Danny walked to the edge of the lanai and stopped, just looking at the smoke for a moment. He could smell the smoke now but he couldn’t make out just what it was being burned. The smoke had almost a burning wood smell, like a fireplace in the fall, but something was tainting it. He frowned and walked to the hedge. He was too short to see over the top, but there was a chance he could push enough of the branches out of the way to see through.
He stuck his hands into the hedge and pulled apart, making just a large enough of a gap to peer through. His eyes widened in shock and fear at the flames licking at the wooden paneling of the house, “Shit! Jesus Christ! Grace! Grace!” He whirled around and nearly ran her over.
“Daddy?” She asked, her voice quivering in fear, as he reached out to steady her.
“I need you to do me a favor, monkey, okay? I need you to run next door and call 911. Go the back way along the beach, okay? Mrs. Johnson should be home. Give them Steve’s address and tell them there’s a fire. I have to go get JJ.”
Grace nodded, her eyes wide and terrified. She turned on her heal and took off, Danny on her tail. As she turned towards the beach, Danny made towards the house. He ran through the open lanai door and made for the stairs. He climbed the stairs two at a time and swore when he saw a thin fog of smoke billowing around the hallway.
Hoping that Steve had left his bedroom window open and not JJ’s, he pushed open the nursery door. He heard JJ whimpering in his crib and he quickly made his way over to him. He glanced at the window as he passed and saw that Steve had left it open a crack, but a thin stream of smoke was billowing up from the bottom of the wall. Most of the smoke was going back out the window, so the smoke in the hallway was most likely from Steve’s room.
Danny lifted JJ up out of the crib and grabbed the thin blanket lying over the side of the crib, using it to cover the infants head. He didn’t know what inhaling smoke would do to a baby and he never wanted to find out. He coughed into his shoulder as he repositioned the baby so his face was against his chest and turned to make his way out of the nursery.
He was heading out the front door when he heard the sirens of the fire trucks over the coughing that was getting harder to stop. Danny looked around for Grace and found her standing with Mandy Johnson, Steve’s neighbor, who had her arms wrapped around Grace. Knowing his daughter, it was probably to keep Grace from running back to the house and Danny.
Danny made his way over to her and knelt down, giving her hug while trying not to cough into her ear, “You did good monkey.”
Grace pulled away, her eyes wet, “Your voice sounds funny…and why do you keep coughing?”
“There was smoke inside the house, sweetie, and I breathed some in when I went to get JJ.”
Grace sniffed and peered down at the blanket wrapped bundle Danny was holding, “Is JJ alright?”
“I don’t know. The paramedics will check him when they check to see if I’m okay.”
As soon as Danny stopped talking, an ambulance pulled up behind one of the fire trucks. Danny looked up at Mandy, “Will you stay with her while I take me and the babe to get looked at?”
She nodded and placed a hand on Grace’s shoulder, “No problem, detective.”
Danny kissed Grace’s cheek, “Love you monkey,” He turned away quickly as he couldn’t hold back the coughing any longer and made his way to the paramedic who had jumped down from the ambulance.
~~
next
~~
“Uncle Steve! Danno said you have a baby!” She yelled, and Steve could practically hear the screeching noise as she slid to an instant stop in front of him.
He laughed again and hoisted her up into his arms, allowing her to climb into the backseat, “Yup. That’s JJ, which is short for Jonathan Jeffrey.”
Grace lightly touched JJ’s hand while Steve said this before glancing at him, “Like grampa?”
“Yes. In fact, I named him after your grampa as well as my dad.”
“Cool,” Grace breathed, before turning around and hopping out of the truck. By this time, Danny was on his way back to the truck, Rachel at his side. Grace ran to them and slammed into Danny, “Uncle Steve said JJ is named after grampa!”
“I know that already, monkey. I plan on telling grampa as soon as we get back to Steve’s. You want to help set up JJ’s room?”
“Can I?” Grace looked back and forth between her parents and Steve, “Can I really?”
“Yeah, you really can,” Danny said with a laugh before turning to Rachel, “Are you sure the extra night is okay?”
Rachel smiled, “Its fine, Daniel, really. Just drop her off on your way to work Wednesday,” She paused and looked at Steve before cocking her head slightly, “What do you plan on doing with JJ while you work?”
Steve’s smile faded instantly. He hadn’t thought of that at all. In fact, he hadn’t been thinking about anything beyond getting through this first day and settling JJ into his new home, “I don’t know yet. I guess I’ll talk to Chin, see if he knows anyone he trusts that babysits or something.”
Rachel hummed softly, rubbing her chin lightly with one finger, “I’ll tell you what. With Grace off for the summer, I’m working from home. I’m willing to watch JJ until school starts up again. That will give you time to find a trustworthy sitter.”
Steve’s eyes widened and he looked back and forth between Danny and Rachel, stunned. Danny, who looked just as taken aback, was moving away from his ex with his fingers crossed, “Who are you and what have you done with my daughter’s mother?”
“Very funny Daniel. I’m being serious here. I may not have had the chance to get to know Steve very well, but I certainly know I would not be comfortable dropping off Grace with someone I barely know five days a week and when there are emergencies,” She narrowed her eyes at Danny, “I’m just giving a viable option here.”
Danny’s stunned countenance turned thoughtful, “Actually, Steve, that’s a really good idea. And Rachel’s is barely out of the way of the route to HQ from your place,” He glanced at his ex, “Would Stan be okay with that?”
Rachel’s smile turned shark like and caused both men to flinch back a few inches, “JJ will give him something to practice on.”
“I’m sorry,” Danny said, his eyebrows climbing, “Are you implying…?”
“Of course not,” Rachel interrupted, “Not yet, at any rate.”
A wail piercing the air just then and caused three adults and one child’s head to turn towards the truck, “I think you’d better check on him,” Rachel said with a smile.
“Right,” Steve climbed into the back of the truck and looked down at JJ before sighing and unbuckling the carrier. He lifted the infant out and once JJ was secure in his arms, patted his diaper. He may have had his son for less than a day, but he had already found that a simple feel at JJ’s bottom would tell him if the crying was because of a wet diaper. A quick whiff at the bottom after the pat down told him it wasn’t a diaper change his son was in need of, “He’s probably hungry.”
“His formula will need to be warmed up. You’re free to use the microwave here if you would like. It will be easier than trying to drive home with a wailing infant, especially if you wish to save yourself the headache,” Rachel said, walking up to the truck and peering inside. She held out her arms, “May I?”
Steve nodded and passed JJ to Rachel before grabbing the leather satchel Catherine had been using as a baby bag. Steve actually liked its functionality as well as the fact that he wasn’t embarrassed to be carrying it. Once she had both baby and bag in her arms, she turned and walked up and into the house, Grace running after her.
Steve looked at Danny, who gazed back at him with a flummoxed expression, “Was that my ex or is it someone impersonating her? Because while I agree that that is a good idea, the whole conversation was just bizarre.”
Steve climbed out of the truck and shut the door, “It was kind of weird, but I am pretty sure that’s Rachel.”
Danny started towards the house and didn’t bother to reply.
~~
When they got home from Rachel’s, the first thing on Steve’s new list was cleaning out Mary’s old bedroom. Steve had picked that room for JJ’s nursery as it was right next door to the master. Cleaning it and moving the furniture out to the garage for the time being took over an hour. They had had to put Grace on baby duty, meaning that if he started crying at any point, she was to run and get one of them.
Once that was completed, and the truck had been emptied of the newly bought baby furnishings and accessories, Danny found himself at a loss. Steve wanted to be the one to put the room together, something Danny certainly couldn’t begrudge him, and Grace was acting as his helper. Steve was also still in his, ‘oh my God, I’m a father,’ mode, which meant that JJ was nestled down in his carrier two feet from Steve.
Danny decided to clean and get the house looking halfway decent before the Fourth of July barbecue they were having Monday. That was pretty much the only reason he had Grace this weekend. Two weeks in a row and two weekends without her. Thankfully, Rachel did have a heart, small as it could be at times in regards to him, and was allowing him some time during the next two weeks to take the place of bringing her to school.
Periodically, Danny would poke his head into the bedroom and walk away laughing as Steve argued with the seven year old over different pieces from the crib and how to organize them. Twice, Steve and Grace came down to him. Once to change and feed JJ while the second time was to get food for themselves. Danny only gave them milk and half a peanut butter sandwich each as he had every intention of starting dinner. He manfully ignored the twin puppy dog eyes he was receiving from the two and shooed them back upstairs.
When dinner was close to being done, he went up to get Steve and Grace. Steve was in the same spot he had been for the past two hours, poking through the pieces while Grace read from the instructions, “Two hours and you haven’t even got the frame put together yet.”
“Shut up Danny.”
“Be quiet daddy.”
Danny stared at them, “I’m limiting your time alone together, starting now, before you two start ganging up on me. That was way too eerie. Dinner, before you both start getting crabby. Let’s go.”
Steve saluted and climbed to his feet, grabbing JJ’s carrier. Grace followed suit, including the salute, and marched past Danny. Danny cocked his head as he looked at JJ, “You know, it might be easier and more comfortable for him if you put up the pack and play instead of leaving him in the carrier. Give him a little room to stretch.”
Steve looked down at JJ, “You think?”
“Occasionally. Food, before it gets cold. Then I’ll put together the pack and play while you try to finish the crib. Ten to one says JJ will end up in your room for the next few weeks anyway. Might as well have it ready.”
~~
Danny groaned and twisted away as Grace kicked him in the ribs. He didn’t normally mind staying at Steve’s house, but they were down beds now and Danny refused to sleep on the couch. This would be one of those times that he wished he could tell Steve how he felt about him and share his bed, rather than this double bed with his pre-teen daughter who still kicked in her sleep. Sometimes, he felt sorry for whoever would end up married to his daughter if she didn’t outgrow this, but that led to homicidal thoughts of someone ever touching his little girl and he no longer felt bad. It was a wretched circle.
Grace kicked again, this time her heal landing on his kidney, and Danny just gave up the ghost. He would rather be dead tired than a walking bruise. He climbed out of bed and softly made his way through the room, the neon glow of the clock lighting his way. He glanced at it as he slid through the door and shook his head at the two a.m. blinking back at him. Two a.m. on a Sunday. What was the world coming to?
He used the restroom at the end of the hall and then detoured down to JJ’s room. Steve had finished the crib at ten and had, going against what Danny had said earlier, put the infant to bed in the nursery.
When he glanced in, however, he saw that the crib was empty. Shaking his head with a rueful laugh, he turned back up the hall and stuck his head into Steve’s room. Sure enough, the pack and play was up near the head of the bed and Steve was resting on his elbow, watching the baby sleep.
Danny stepped into the room and closed the door but leaving an inch gap, just enough to let in the light from the hallway, “What are you doing up?”
Steve glanced over at him before turning back to the pack and play, “Couldn’t fall back to sleep after I fed him. I put him in his crib, came back to bed and kept thinking that I couldn’t hear him or that I wouldn’t hear him if he cried again if I fell asleep. I went and got him about twenty minutes ago,” Steve looked back at Danny, “Why are you awake?”
“Grace was dreaming of playing soccer again and I wound up being the ball. I was going to go down and watch some TV or something, try to pass out on that God awful couch of yours.” Danny walked over to the bed and sat down by Steve’s feet, “Welcome to parenthood by the way. My dad told me just after Grace was born that every new parent goes through those fears.”
“So it’ll go away?”
Danny laughed softly, “No. I can honestly say that it never goes away. Exhaustion eventually wins out in the end and then you learn to internalize it. As he grows, the worry is going to change from ‘oh god, is he still breathing?’ to ‘oh god, he’s going to get hit by a car!’ and further still to ‘oh god, he’s going to crash the car!’ but it’ll always be there.”
“That is so not helpful at all.”
Danny squeezed Steve’s ankle, “It just gets easier to handle,” He squeezed again and stood up, “All right, I really need to get some sleep.”
“Danny,” Steve said with a sigh, when Danny was a foot from the door, “get in here.”
Danny blinked at the door before turning to Steve, “What?”
“That couch sucks to sleep on. Just climb in and shut up.”
Danny deliberated for a minute, though why he had no idea. This was what he wanted after all. It may not be under the same circumstances, he doubted Steve was going to ravish him in his sleep after all, but still…sharing, “Okay.”
He walked to the other side of the bed and pulled the sheet back before sliding in. The bed was a king and there was sufficient enough room between them that Danny didn’t bother sleeping right on the edge of the mattress. He didn’t want to anyway. He always enjoyed the heat that seemed to emanate from Steve.
“So,” He said after a few minutes of tense silence, during which Steve was like a rock next to him, “This is cozy.”
Steve relaxed with a soft laugh and dropped his head onto the pillow. He rolled over and thumped Danny on the shoulder, “Go to sleep.”
“Sir, yes, sir.”
~~
JJ had only woken up once more after Danny had joined him and Steve was surprised that Danny had slept through it, to be honest. But then again, the man really hadn’t gotten much sleep the morning before, so maybe it shouldn’t have been all that surprising. Once the five o’clock feeding was taken care of and JJ was asleep again which seemed to be all the baby was capable of doing other than soiling his diaper and eating, Steve slipped back into bed, facing Danny. He rested his head on his fist and looked his fill.
Asleep, with his face smoothed out and his hair askew in twenty different directions, Danny looked like a teenager. Seeing this, Steve wondered if he had ever seen his partner sleeping a true deep sleep. Sure there were stake out naps, but Danny never seemed to be able to drop past a dose at those times.
It was weird, seeing Danny so still. He had thought, the few times he allowed himself to, that Danny would move in his sleep the way he moved when awake, which was constantly. This stillness was kind of enduring in a weird sort of way. Then again, Danny had had very little sleep the last two nights. This lack of movement could be just an anomaly.
“Quit staring at me.”
Steve started and pulled his eyes away from the line of Danny’s shoulder. He looked up and met a pair of bleary, blue eyes blinking back at him, “How long have you been awake?”
“Since you fought your way out of bed to feed the boychick,” Danny yawned and turned over onto his side, eyes sliding half closed.
“Boychick? You’re letting your roots show,” Steve chuckled at the Jewish term. He only knew it because that had been what one of his grandmothers friends called him when he was little.
Danny thumped Steve’s hand weakly and then left his hand resting where it had landed, too tired to exert the energy to move it. Steve’s hand twitched under Danny’s and he managed to restrain from turning it over and grasping Danny’s. He met the sleepy gaze and felt his stomach clench. The need to kiss Danny was nearly overwhelming. He decided to comprise with himself and hope that was enough to kill the urge. He leaned over and pressed his lips to Danny’s forehead, “Go back to sleep Danny.”
Steve heard Danny sigh and let his eyes slide shut. He didn’t think he’d sleep but his eyes itched from tiredness. The next time he opened his eyes, he found Danny leaning over him with a funny little smile on his face. He stretched his way through a yawn. Apparently he had slept, “Time izzit?”
“A little after ten. Seems JJ slept for a solid five hour stretch. That is a huge accomplishment,” He paused, “Was I dreaming earlier or did you kiss me?”
Steve cracked an eye open at the hesitancy in Danny’s voice. It was something that was rarely heard, “You weren’t dreaming.”
“Oh,” Danny frowned down at Steve before punching him in the shoulder hard, “If you’re gunna do something, McGarrett, do it right. You don’t wait until the other person is mostly asleep before kissing them, especially a first kiss. If one wants to reciprocate, it is very hard to do so when three quarters of the way into la-la land.”
“Danny…”
“Your timing sucks. Which is just another thing we need to add…”
Steve tried again, “Danny…”
“To the list of things we need to work on…”
“Danny!”
“What?”
Steve let out a soft laugh, “I only kissed you on the forehead.”
Danny stared at Steve a long moment before a look of horror crossed his face, “Oh, oh crap.”
“So you dream of me kissing you?”
“I dream about mutual kissing…” Danny clenched his teeth, the look on his face suggesting he couldn’t believe what was coming out of his mouth, “Look, can we just forget that I said anything? Apparently I don’t have a filter after I just wake up.”
Steve stared up at Danny, his eyes wide and his heart thumping a million beats a minute at the possibility that Danny might return his feelings, “Danny? You?”
“This is not forgetting about it,” when Steve didn’t say anything, still in a bit of shock, Danny exploded, “Yes! Okay? Yes, I want to kiss you and do other things that are unmentionable while children are present in the same room. Are you happy?”
Steve smiled slowly but didn’t answer. Instead, he reached up and ran a finger along Danny’s lips and watched as the blond mans breath stuttered slightly. Danny’s jaw pulsed as he clenched his teeth before he growled, grabbed Steve’s hand, bent over and pressed their mouths together.
It wasn’t a sweet press of lips that Steve had experienced with other people for a first kiss, but it wasn’t a rough attack of lips either. He felt the stubble of Danny’s jaw press against his and the feel and sound of the slight scratching wrenched a groan from his throat.
Danny pulled back and stared at him, his eyes holding a slightly wild tinge to them. He was about to lean back in when a high pitched whimper had both heads snapping to the pack and play. JJ was shifting around in the bassinette, a sure sign that he was waking up.
“That kid has fantastic timing.”
Steve laughed and pressed a quick kiss to the corner of Danny’s mouth before turning and climbing out of bed.
~~
Sunday passed in a slow haze of laziness. Steve and Grace finished the nursery while Danny started prepping some of the salads for their barbecue the next day, deciding to stay out of the way.
Once both were completed, Grace managed to talk Danny into taking her to an early movie. Danny agreed, more for the fact that he had a hard time denying Grace anything than him actually wanting to see any movie that was currently out.
Danny and Grace left, Danny kissing Steve as he walked out the door. Since their first kiss that morning, it was like they couldn’t stop. Every time they had passed each other, or were in the same room, their mouths met. It was like they couldn’t believe it was even happening and had to keep reaffirming it. Because of it, Grace had spent much of that time rolling her eyes or huffing in disgust, like any kid that sees their parent kiss another adult.
Danny had pulled her off to the side to talk to her about it, but didn’t get far before she had asked what had taken them so long. Danny still wasn’t sure what to make of that and wondered if Rachel had something to do with his daughter taking this new shift in his and Steve’s relationship so well.
Steve stood at the door, watching them pull out of the driveway before shutting it with a sigh. He turned and looked around the house, suddenly at a loss. JJ was dozing in his swing and the house was actually spotless thanks to Danny.
He knew what he wanted to do, what he needed to do. His muscles were itching with the need to swim. He hadn’t been in the ocean since Friday morning and he was feeling it. While he still managed to get his exercise in by way of some quick cardio, the need to be in the ocean was crawling all over his skin like an itch that kept moving every time he tried to scratch it. He just couldn’t leave JJ in the house by himself.
Another glance out the back window had an idea popping into his head, but he honestly didn’t know if it was possible. He grabbed his laptop and logged onto the internet, quickly typing into the search engine what he wanted to know. It was about what he figured. Some people said yes, some said no, leaving the choice up to the parents.
Well, he guessed it was a good thing he picked up a package of swim diapers on a whim while he and Danny were shopping. Mostly because he knew he would get an eye roll out of it from Danny. He ran upstairs and changed into his shorts before detouring to the bathroom were he grabbed his beach towel and JJ’s bath towel from the linen closet. He then went into the nursery and grabbed a pair of the swim diapers from the dresser.
Back downstairs, he lifted JJ out of his swing and laid him out on the couch. He pulled off JJ’s clothes and put on his swim diaper before he slathered JJ with baby sun block and placed a baby sized fishing hat on his head. Once his son was ready, he grabbed him up along with the towels and headed out back. Instead of heading straight down to the beach, however, he had a flash of insight and detoured off to the garage.
Steve had learned early on during bath time that JJ was incredibly slippery while wet. So, the garage. Somewhere at the back, there was still a pile of swim toys and floats that had belonged to him and Mary. He was sure he had seen an infant float vest buried in the mess when he was digging out toys a few weeks ago for Grace.
Sure enough, the vest was still there and looked like it was just small enough to slip onto his son’s torso comfortably. That he did down on the beach, his son laying on a beach towel and kicking at the sky. Once he was sure the vest was secure, he slid JJ back up into his arms.
“This, JJ, is the ocean. In a couple of months, we’ll start taking you to city pool and get you swimming lessons. Your grandma did the same for me and Aunt Mary. We both started swimming at four months old. For now, though, we’ll just get you used to the water, yeah?”
JJ’s eyes were wide and he was cooing as he looked towards the ocean. With a smile, Steve waded out into the water, walking out until the water was up to his belly button. When he was sure he had a secure grip on the infant, who was facing forward, he crouched down into the water.
Steve laughed when JJ’s feet first hit the water and his son squealed and pulled his legs up. Steve slid his arm under JJ’s butt, the other secure across his chest to hold him steady, and lowered him again. This time, JJ kicked at the water and when Steve had him in as far as the vest would go, JJ began to splash at the water with his fists like he did during his baths.
Steve didn’t dare put him into the water any further. The waves weren’t high, but every few minutes there was a swell higher than the rest. It just wasn’t a chance he wanted to take, especially as a few of the websites had warned about babies’ immune systems and how fragile they were.
Steve leaned back and floated on his back, JJ lying on his chest but out of the water. Steve gave an experimental kick and shot back towards the beach slowly and laughed again when his son let out a squeal at the movement.
They were in the ocean for a good half an hour before JJ started to get fussy. Steve never had him in the water long enough for JJ to start shivering, but he supposed staring up at the sky for half an hour would get pretty boring after awhile. He went back up to the house and wrapped JJ up in his towel before wrapping his own around his waist.
He stepped into the house and stopped dead in his tracks. Danny was standing there, his arms crossed and a fierce frown on his face, “He was barely in the water, I swear. And his face was nowhere near it.”
“That doesn’t matter Steve. Babies’ body temperatures drop quickly. Why do you think I kept saying his bath water had to be room temperature?”
“I know Danny, I’m not stupid. I checked online and that was one of the things to say to watch for. Take the baby out of the water as soon as he or she starts shivering. I didn’t have him in the water long enough for him to even come close to shivering. He was lying on my chest the whole time and I had a good grip on him.”
“Online? You checked online! Don’t you know that half the things you find online are wrong? Urban legends and stuff heard through the years, repeated and transformed, badly I might add.”
“I checked, okay, and different parenting sites as well,” Steve answered, feeling his temper rising. “I didn’t do it on a whim.”
“Well, maybe you should have thought harder. He’s not a toy, he’s a tiny human being. He’s fragile.”
“C’mon, my parents took Mary and I into the water around that age. We loved it.”
“It’s doesn’t mean that because you’re Aquaman and are able to live underwater that your kid can do it too. At least not now, I’m sure that seeing how lucky I am, he’ll end up just like you. I’m not sure the world can handle two McGarrett’s. And I’m not sure I can either right now. Seriously, what were you thinking? You couldn’t have just asked for my opinion? Unlike you, I’ve been a father for more than five minutes!” Danny knew he went too far when he saw Steve’s face harden.
“Oh, I’m sorry if I’m not Father of the Year after twenty four hours with my son! Not everyone one can be as perfect as Danny Williams, who gets to play dad every other weekend.”
Danny’s eyes narrowed before going into the kitchen, “Fuck you, McGarrett!”
Steve put JJ back in his pack and play before running after Danny, “Wait!” he yelled, catching partner’s arm, “I’m sorry Danny. I didn’t mean it. I know you’re a great father. I wish mine was half as good as you are with Grace. I just got angry.”
“Okay, I said stuff, you said stuff, I wasn’t really nice either to be fair. But seriously, you need any advice, just ask me.”
“You weren't there,” Steve was getting frustrated again. He walked to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water, wrenching the cap of it and flinging it towards the garbage can with more force than was strictly necessary.
“Then call me next time.”
“So what, I'll call you every time I want to do something or because my son is crying and just not bother to try and solve it by myself?” Steve fumed, “C’mon, I’m not going to phone you every time I’ve got a question. I need to learn things for myself, even if you’re here. You had to learn by yourself. I’m not going to rely on you all the time about how to raise my son. That’s not who I am.”
“Look,” Danny said in what Steve assumed was a reasoning tone, “I know everything changed for you all of a sudden, but you can’t just do stuff like that because you are bored. You need to be responsible. He could suffer from hypothermia easily.”
“Danny, are you aware that we are in Hawai’i and that it’s the middle of summer? The water is about 86 degrees right now. It’s almost the same temperature as his body’s. I know you hate ocean and sand, but he’s my son and since we are living on an island, I want him to get used to it as soon as possible. So you’re just going to have to get used to it as well,” the finality in Steve’s voice made it clear that he was done with this subject, even if Danny wasn’t.
Danny sighed, “Just…please, please the next time you want to take him out there, make sure I’m with.”
Steve nodded in acquiescence, “Okay,” He turned around and dug back into the fridge for one of JJ’s bottles, “I thought you were going to a movie?”
“The one Grace wanted to see was already half an hour into it. We just went and got ice cream instead. I brought back a pint for you. It’s in the freezer,” Danny said with a wave of his hand.
“Cool.”
~~
Later that evening, they were back out on the beach. Grace had pouted all the way up through dinner after hearing that JJ had got to go out into the ocean and that she had missed it. Danny had put his foot down at the infant going back into the ocean for a second time that day, so he elected to stay on the beach with JJ while Steve took Grace out to swim and work on her boogie board.
Danny sat down on the blanket and laid JJ on his back in front of him. He idly dangled a set of rattle keys for JJ to bat at while he watched Steve help his daughter stand on the board.
The boogie board had been a compromise between him, Rachel, and Grace. Danny had talked with Steve, who then dragged him to various board shops. All had agreed that a boogie board was a good way to start out if they could find a teacher willing to help her balance on the board. Steve had, not too surprisingly, volunteered for the job with Kono helping when she could.
JJ made a gargling type noise and Danny looked down at the baby before laughing and reaching for the camera he had brought out with him. JJ had managed, without Danny noticing, to pull the top of the blanket down along the sides of his head and was attempting to grab the sand now within reach.
Danny snapped a few pictures, one of which was just in time to catch JJ burying his hand in the sand. Danny laughed again at this and then had to fumble for the camera. JJ was gracing him with a large gummy grin and it was, to Danny’s knowledge, the first smile JJ had let out since Catherine had dropped him off with Steve.
“Okay, boychick, here’s the deal. When daddy comes back up, you gotta give him a huge smile too, okay? Cause let me tell ya, he’s gunna go all pouty on me when he finds out that I got your first smile and that’s just not something I wanna deal with. Sound like a plan?”
JJ cooed at him and started grabbing at the sand again. Danny sighed and reached behind him for the small pillow he had brought out. They might as well get some tummy time out of this.
~~
Steve stirred awake Monday morning, odd feelings twisting his stomach. Part of it had to do with the way Danny was wrapped around him like an octopus he was sure, but the other part felt more anxious. Like something was going to happen. It was a feeling he had had previously, before good and bad events had taken place in his life. All it meant, really, was that he would spend the day paying a little more attention to things than normal.
He glanced at the pack and play and then, after determining that his son was still sleeping soundly, turned to kiss Danny awake. It didn’t take long before the blond was shifting in his arms, “Why? Why do you insist on waking me up, McGarrett, when we don’t have to work? These are times of sleeping in.”
Steve couldn’t help but let a small chuckle out at Danny’s half asleep ranting. Most of the words had been slurred and the rest sighed out like he couldn’t make the effort to say them, “Grace will be up soon.”
Danny grunted in response and slid off of Steve, before burying his head under a pillow, “She’s a big girl. She can make cereal and watch cartoons.”
“Ah, she would, but someone here, not that I’m naming names or anything, promised her pancakes.”
“Promised her your pancakes,” Danny muttered, gripping the pillow over his head as if that would make Steve leave him alone, “I don’t want to get up.”
Steve poked him in the shoulder, “Come on, it’s not like we fell into bed an hour ago.”
Danny lifted the edge of the pillow closest to Steve, just enough to glare out with one eye, “Your son howls like a hungry wolf. I was up with you and unlike you, who most likely went through your entire SEAL career on an hour of sleep, I actually enjoy getting more than three hours of uninterrupted sleep.”
Despite the grumbling, Danny crawled out of bed a few minutes later. The rest morning had passed by smoothly enough. Danny had made breakfast for him and Steve, something small to keep them from raiding the fridge before Grace finally woke up.
JJ had woken before Grace and Danny helped Steve through the morning ablutions of an infant.
Following that was the pancakes with Grace who then commandeered Steve and forced him to watch movies with her in between taking care of JJ. During that, Danny called Kono to remind her to pick up the fireworks that her uncle was providing them for after the city fireworks.
Once that had been settled, Danny had retreated to the lanai with a book he had every intention of finishing before he had to get up to help with the barbeque prep work. Or be a back-seat cook if you listened to Steve’s continuous griping.
An hour passed before he heard the kitchen door being slid open, “Daddy?”
Danny looked up from his book, “Monkey?”
Grace flopped down on the end of the chair, “I have a question for you.”
“Okay?”
“You know in Cinderella, how she wears glass slippers to the ball? Isn’t that a little impractical?”
Danny’s eyebrow rose at the correct use of the word impractical but didn’t interrupt, “She even runs in them! What would happen if she landed too hard going down the stairs and the slipper broke? That would be horrible!”
Danny stared at his daughter for a moment before taking a deep breath and bellowing, “Stephen James McGarrett! What the hell have you been telling my daughter?!” He turned back to Grace, “I am never letting you watch Disney movies with Steve ever again.”
Grace tucked her chin down and blinked up at Danny, innocence personified. That was a Rachel look and Danny had never been able to fight that look. Warily he asked, “What?”
“Steve just left to go rent some more movies. He wants to see just what the evil syndicate of Disney is teaching young and impressionable youth.”
Danny groaned and dropped his head back, “Oy Vey.”
“Uh huh,” Grace said, nodding fast, “He said he would be right back. I think that’s why he sent me out here but…”
“You got sidetracked, I know.”
“Yeah,” Grace giggled, “You didn’t answer my question.”
Danny sighed, “It’s a cartoon. Most cartoons don’t make sense. Like in Looney Tunes where Bugs goes to space a lot and doesn’t need a spacesuit to breathe.”
“Oooh,” Grace grinned, “It’s just people making stuff up.”
“There you go.”
“K! I’m gunna run and check that JJ is still sleepin’, since you don’t have a baby monitor.”
Danny smiled and leaned over, kissing her forehead, “That would be great. Thanks monkey.”
Grace stood up and was starting into the house, before she stopped and cocked her head, “Danno, what’s that smoke?”
Danny looked up and followed her gaze. There was a billow of black smoke wafting over the top of the hedge on the side of the house. Danny frowned and stood up as well, “I don’t know. Maybe someone is burning leaves something,” He walked past Grace and pressed his hand to her shoulder, “Stay here for a minute.”
“K.”
Danny walked to the edge of the lanai and stopped, just looking at the smoke for a moment. He could smell the smoke now but he couldn’t make out just what it was being burned. The smoke had almost a burning wood smell, like a fireplace in the fall, but something was tainting it. He frowned and walked to the hedge. He was too short to see over the top, but there was a chance he could push enough of the branches out of the way to see through.
He stuck his hands into the hedge and pulled apart, making just a large enough of a gap to peer through. His eyes widened in shock and fear at the flames licking at the wooden paneling of the house, “Shit! Jesus Christ! Grace! Grace!” He whirled around and nearly ran her over.
“Daddy?” She asked, her voice quivering in fear, as he reached out to steady her.
“I need you to do me a favor, monkey, okay? I need you to run next door and call 911. Go the back way along the beach, okay? Mrs. Johnson should be home. Give them Steve’s address and tell them there’s a fire. I have to go get JJ.”
Grace nodded, her eyes wide and terrified. She turned on her heal and took off, Danny on her tail. As she turned towards the beach, Danny made towards the house. He ran through the open lanai door and made for the stairs. He climbed the stairs two at a time and swore when he saw a thin fog of smoke billowing around the hallway.
Hoping that Steve had left his bedroom window open and not JJ’s, he pushed open the nursery door. He heard JJ whimpering in his crib and he quickly made his way over to him. He glanced at the window as he passed and saw that Steve had left it open a crack, but a thin stream of smoke was billowing up from the bottom of the wall. Most of the smoke was going back out the window, so the smoke in the hallway was most likely from Steve’s room.
Danny lifted JJ up out of the crib and grabbed the thin blanket lying over the side of the crib, using it to cover the infants head. He didn’t know what inhaling smoke would do to a baby and he never wanted to find out. He coughed into his shoulder as he repositioned the baby so his face was against his chest and turned to make his way out of the nursery.
He was heading out the front door when he heard the sirens of the fire trucks over the coughing that was getting harder to stop. Danny looked around for Grace and found her standing with Mandy Johnson, Steve’s neighbor, who had her arms wrapped around Grace. Knowing his daughter, it was probably to keep Grace from running back to the house and Danny.
Danny made his way over to her and knelt down, giving her hug while trying not to cough into her ear, “You did good monkey.”
Grace pulled away, her eyes wet, “Your voice sounds funny…and why do you keep coughing?”
“There was smoke inside the house, sweetie, and I breathed some in when I went to get JJ.”
Grace sniffed and peered down at the blanket wrapped bundle Danny was holding, “Is JJ alright?”
“I don’t know. The paramedics will check him when they check to see if I’m okay.”
As soon as Danny stopped talking, an ambulance pulled up behind one of the fire trucks. Danny looked up at Mandy, “Will you stay with her while I take me and the babe to get looked at?”
She nodded and placed a hand on Grace’s shoulder, “No problem, detective.”
Danny kissed Grace’s cheek, “Love you monkey,” He turned away quickly as he couldn’t hold back the coughing any longer and made his way to the paramedic who had jumped down from the ambulance.
~~
next
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