110 Muscles and pancakes

[sylnl]

Word Soap: As The World Keeps Turning
Author: SYLnl
Title:  #110 Muscles and pancakes
Rating: PG
Summary:  Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. - Lao Tzu
Big Thanks To: ltklo, for brushing up my grammar

Previously on As The World Keeps Turning: click here for chapters 1 - 109 

Even by Danny standards this was an extremely loud and terrified scream and both Luke and Reid were out of bed within a second.

“What the…”

They barely took the time to dress and were worming their way into shirts while running up the stairs. For a minute they stood on the landing, trying to make sense of the situation. In one room Will was sitting on the bed, visibly very upset, soothed by Gwen and watched by a startled Hallie. In the other room a small bundle a panic had pushed itself in a corner.

When Will saw the men he lowered his head.

“I’m so sorry…”

For some reason the division of roles was clear. Luke walked to Will and Reid turned on the light in the other room. He sat down on the bed and extended his hand.

“Wanna sit with me?”

Danny nodded, looking relieved, and crawled his way to Reid’s lap. In the safe arms of his daddy, with a warm blanket around them, he started crying again. Reid started rocking him softly, his lips on the boy’s temple. Chanting the well-known Oliver Mantra.

“You’re safe, Danny. You’re safe.”

The boy calmed down, but still latched himself onto Reid.

“Wanna tell me what happened?” Reid tried, but Danny shook his head. Great. Now what?

He looked up and smiled at Luke who joined them on the bed.

“Will was making his way to the bathroom and it probably woke Danny up, but not enough to realize it was Will,” Luke whispered, while he softly caressed the boy’s hair.

Reid shook his head. Poor Will.

“Is he okay?” he asked Luke and the blond shrugged.

“He feels horrible about adding to the horror,” Luke was still whispering.

“It wasn’t his fault,” Reid refuted and Luke stroked Reid’s arm.

“I know. We all know. But Will doesn’t feel it that way. Not yet.”

Reid nodded, still rocking Danny.

“You do know it was Uncle Will you saw, right? Hallie’s daddy…”

To their surprise Danny shook his head and looked up.

“It was? There’s no stranger in the house?”

“No strangers. And tomorrow I will explain our alarm system to you,” Reid kissed Danny on his hair. “No one can come into the house, buddy. Not without us knowing about it.”

“They can’t?” the boy looked at Luke now and his younger daddy confirmed it.

“Nope. We have a big gate and all kinds of cool gadgets around the house. When somebody tries to come close, some guys with big muscles will rush over here and get them before they can come into the house.”

“Muscles like Uncle Casey?”

“Maybe even bigger,” Luke smiled.

“Wow,” Danny looked impressed.

A soft noise at the doorway made them all look up and then Reid waved Will in.

“Come on in, Will. Danny didn’t know it was you.”

He saw Will’s pain when he came near and gave his friend an encouraging smile. It’s okay. This is not your fault.

“I’m so sorry I scared you, Danny…” Will sat on his heels so he was on the boy’s eyelevel and felt relief when he saw Danny looking straight at him. Cautious, but not fearful.

“I didn’t know it was you,” the boy said softly, “I thought one of them came to get me.”

Will could cry, but he managed to smile. “I’m sorry…”

Danny looked at him and then mirrored Will’s smile, putting his hand on Will’s cheek.

“It’s not your fault, Uncle Will.”

“There. He said it,” Reid gave Will a grin and the young man nodded.

“Okay then. On that note I’m going to the bathroom…” his expression was telling. I reallllly need to go by now.

“How about you, young man? Are you ready for some more sleep?”

Danny’s yawn was a great answer and they all chuckled.

“We’ll take that as a yes,” Luke softly squeezed Danny’s chin as Reid put the boy down in his bed. The small arms grabbed Mr. Panda, but this eyes were calm.

“I’m safe,” he murmured to the stuffed animal and pulled it close.

“Yes, you are,” Reid kissed him on the cheek and after a goodnight kiss from Luke, Danny closed his eyes. It didn’t take the boy long to go back to the Land of the Dreams and as quietly as possible his daddies made their way to the other bedroom.

“Are you guys okay in here?”

“We’re getting there. Is Danny okay?” Gwen looked worried.

“He is. He’s back to sleep. He didn’t realize it was Will, so maybe it’s a good idea to softly talk to him if you pass his room. If he’s asleep, he won’t hear it and it will comfort him if he is awake.”

“That’s a good idea, Reid.” Will still sounded sad.

“Again, Will…this is not your fault. Don’t beat yourself up about it. It’s simply unpredictable what might trigger him. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know, but…”

“Nope, no buts,” Luke intervened into the conversation, “You just went to the bathroom. That’s all. Now we know better, so we can do better. With the soft talking, I mean. That’s how it works. We learn as we go along.”

Reid put his arm around Luke and smiled.

“We’ll see you at breakfast. Try to get some sleep…” he glanced at the little camping bed and his smile grew. “Your little angel sets the example.”

Gwen and Will nodded and lowered themselves in the bed.

“Goodnight guys.”

***

He sensed the presence before he opened his eyes and he instinctively smiled. He could hear Luke’s soft chuckle and enjoyed the touch of Luke’s finger on his cheek.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.”

Reid’s smile grew and when he slowly opened his eyes, he found two brown pools of love looking at him.

“Hey Looker,” Reid wanted to pull Luke closer, but Luke’s grip on his wrists restrained him.

“Hey,” Luke whispered and his face came near very, very slowly without losing eye contact. Then he focused on Reid’s lips and with a deep sigh they kissed. Way too short, way too soft. Luke pulled back a little, teasing Reid with soft nibbles and strokes and Reid groaned.

“Have mercy.”

Luke grin was wicked.

“Only because our kitchen is filled with hungry guests,” he grinned, giving Reid a firm kiss and letting go of Reid’s wrists. That was Reid’s cue to grab Luke, pulling him on top of him and turning the tables in one smooth move. Giving Luke some of his own medicine. And the young blond didn’t object. Not at all.

They both laughed out loud when Ali’s voice sounded from the hallway.

“Snyder! We sent you out there to get Dr. Comatose out of bed, not to join him! Gwen and I are starting with the pancakes, so don’t come whining to me if you only find some crumbs. We have no sympathy for late comers.”

“Yes, Nurse Stewart!” Reid called out and the men could hear her snort and leave.

After a quick kiss Reid crawled off Luke and made his way to the bathroom.

“Please secure some pancakes for me,” he gave his blond his most charming smile, “I’ll be there soon.”

“So food wins again,” Luke shook his head in fake disappointment, but Reid just winked and walked out of sight. The sound of running water made Luke sigh. He could join him…

“Daddy?”

Man! Now they pulled the trump card on him? Luke jumped out of bed and met Danny in the doorway.

“Hey buddy, I’m here.”

“I’m hungry.”

“I know, sport. Let’s eat. Daddy will be there soon.”

His expression told his friends what his lips didn’t, but nobody looked even remotely guilty.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures, Bro,” Casey looked mischievous. “The two of you are insatiable.”

“That sounds a little envious to me,” Luke ruffled his friend’s hair and Casey grinned.

“Maybe I am,” he admitted, “I mean…you guys have lived together for months now… but the way you were giggling last night… you sounded like two horny teens watching porn.”

“Close enough,” Reid’s calm voice filled the kitchen and his remark - and Luke blushing - made everybody laugh. Well, almost everybody.

“Guys…” Gwen subtly motioned to the two young kids, sitting on the counter with a plate on their laps, “can we keep this G rated please?”

Reid gave a quick nod and softly stroked Danny’s hair. The boy looked up and smiled, his mouth filled with pancakes.

“Good morning, son. That looks good.”

Danny just nodded, enthusiastically chewing.

“If you behave, I’ll make you one too,” Gwen teased and Reid hopped on the counter.

“I’m always on my best behavior,” he stated and Ali rolled her eyes.

“Of course you are…although I must admit…”

She stopped herself and when Reid saw her blush, he smirked. What was going on now?

“Are we back to the giggling?” He wondered out loud and ignored Gwen’s look over her shoulder.

“No no,” Ali shook her head, but kept her eyes on the stove and became even more red. “Just drop it, Reid.”

“You know I can’t,” he teased and Gwen showed him the frying pan with a pancake.

“Try harder,” she sounded firm, but her eyes were amused.

Reid zipped his lips, but Casey wasn’t that easily censored. He obviously knew what was going on, because his question sounded very provocative.

“It’s just that we never realized you had time to work out…”

Reid frowned. “I don’t.”

“Dude!” Casey snorted, “A six pack like yours doesn’t just happen.”

Reid’s frown deepened. How…

“We walked into the hallway when you guys ran upstairs, last night”, Casey gave him a big grin, “and someone in this room had some trouble sleeping after that…”

“Case,” Gwen looked really fierce this time, “That’s enough.”

Ali was obviously embarrassed, so Reid tried to pull the whole conversation to something normal.

“It’s the yoga,” he said calmly. “It keeps me sane and fit.”

He saw Ali looking at him from the corner of her eye and he gave her a quick smile. It’s okay.

She smiled back. A little sheepishly. It was Luke who came to her rescue by standing next to her and caressing her back.

“You have excellent taste in men,” he bumped his shoulder against hers and she mirrored the movement.

“So do you,” she grinned and dropped a pancake on a plate. “And may I add…you look great too.”

Luke kissed her cheek and made his way to the table. He smiled as he watched Reid, still sitting next to Danny on the counter, getting his pancake from Gwen and when their eyes met, both men grinned at each other.

“Teens,” Casey snorted.

“Jealous Mealous,” Luke flung back.

They both chuckled.

“You’ve created a good life for yourself, Bro.” Casey gave Luke an approving nod, “And I’m glad I got the backstage tour. My next visit will be in a few months, so I’m glad we had this chance to reconnect.”

“Me too, Case” Luke was touched, “When are you heading back?”

“Tomorrow morning,” Casey shoved the last piece of pancake in his mouth, “I promised my mom to be home today and we’ll have a family dinner.”

“You don’t sound too enthusiastic about leaving,” Will put forward and Casey nodded.

“I’m not. But I know I’ll be okay once I’m there. It’s a whole different rhythm. And after all this connecting and social stuff, it will be quite a change.”

They all nodded.

“At least we started this year among friends,” Will smiled, “and with a delicious breakfast. Thanks, ladies.”

Gwen and Ali bowed their thanks and then Will broke camp.

“We’re expected at Fairwinds now, so we’re gonna pack up.”

Just fifteen minutes later the house felt empty and silent. Making Luke feel a little lost. With an understanding smile Reid put his arm around Luke’s shoulder and pulled him closer.

“That was an excellent party, Mr. Snyder.”

“Yeah,” Luke looked up to Reid and smiled. “We did very well, Dr. Oliver.”

“So enlighten me…what traditions need to be upheld today?”

Luke nestled himself to Reid, watching Danny being absorbed by his comic book again.

“I’m fine.”

“I’m glad to hear that, but that’s not what I asked.”

Luke shrugged. “We used this day to visit some family members that we didn’t see at New Year’s Eve. But this year that’s all of them and I don’t want to fill this day with one visit after another.”

Reid couldn’t hold back his sigh of relief and Luke smiled.

“But thanks for asking.”

“You’re welcome. So no visits at all?”

Luke shook his head. “Not today. I talked to most of them last night on the phone and I’m thinking about visiting my mother in the hospital tomorrow. But not today. I’d just like to hang out here, just the three of us. If that’s okay with you.”

Reid rolled his eyes. Okay?

He put his thumb under Luke’s chin and tilted his blond’s head.

“Twist my arm…”