149 Touching base
Word Soap: As The World Keeps Turning
Author: SYLnl
Title: #149 Touching base
Rating: PG
Summary: “All learning has an emotional base.” - Plato
Big Thanks To: ltklo, for brushing up my grammar
Previously on As The World Keeps Turning: click here for chapters 1 - 148
He was just in time to see Miss Lydia leave and when the front door stayed open, he knew he was spotted. He couldn’t make sense of the empty doorway, though, until Danny showed himself in boots and a jacket and came running towards him through the snow.
“Daddddddddy!”
Luke crouched down and the boy dropped himself around the neck of his father.
“I’ve missed you, Daddy.”
“I’ve missed you too. Did you have a good day?”
The boy nodded effusively.
“I did, but it was strange. Uncle Will and you not being there…”
Luke let Danny glide back onto his own feet and the boy looked up to him with a blissful smile.
“But it was nice having Daddy there all day,” the young blond skipped through the snow, holding Luke’s hand, “He made us sandwiches for lunch and Miss Lydia said she had never had a bigger or better one.”
“That made Daddy happy, I’m sure,” Luke smiled and Danny nodded again.
“Yeah, it did. He smiled his big smile and then Miss Lydia’s cheeks were all red.”
Oh boy, poor Lydia, Luke thought amused. Reid’s big smile was pretty irresistible. He could understand how the young woman would have been thrown by that.
“And what did you learn today?”
“That Hallie is different when her daddy isn’t around,” Danny said without judgment and Luke laughed.
“Really? How?”
The boy shrugged. “Many ways. She disagreed a lot.”
“Annoying?” Luke informed and Danny grinned. “Nah,” - how he sounded just like Reid right now! - “it was funny.”
“Did Uncle Will pick her up already?”
“Aunt Gwen did,” he pointed at the open door, “Daddy is still waiting for us!”
He let go of Luke’s hand and hopped to Reid, who ruffled the boy’s hair and then focused his attention to the older blond that approached him.
“Hey Looker,” his soft greeting made Luke all warm inside and with a soft moan he let himself pulled into Reid’s arms. Accepting the kiss with a content sigh.
“Hey Hottie,” Luke softly pulled some curls, “Missed me?”
Reid answered by bumping his groin against Luke’s and raising his eyebrow. It made Luke all flushed again.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he whispered and Reid chuckled.
“You do that.”
When Reid didn’t show any intention of closing the door, Luke looked outside and the approaching motorcycle on their driveway made him smile.
“I ordered pizza,” Reid confirmed and Luke gave him the thumbs up. After hanging up his coat he turned to Danny.
“Let’s set the table…”
“We already did that, Daddy,” Danny looked proud and Luke lifted the boy to his chest.
“Aren’t you a big help,” he kissed his son on his cheek and enjoyed the beaming smile the boy gave him. When they entered the kitchen, Luke was surprised by the romantic setting in front of him. Candles and pizza?
“This looks nice,” he said and Danny, on his own feet by now, jumped a little.
“You like it, Daddy? We wanted to make it special.”
“Well, you did,” Luke caressed the boy’s hair. “This is very special.”
“Daddy said you like candles because you’re a…” Danny had to think about that one…
“Romantic sap,” Reid helped him and they all chuckled.
Luke shrugged, gave Reid a quick kiss and loudly sniffed the pizza boxes.
“I am and proud of it,” he stated and took a seat. While Danny followed his lead, Reid took care of the slicing and soon the kitchen was filled with content groans and eating sounds.
Danny was the first one done and he gave Luke a curious look.
“Daddy said you went to the stables today.”
Luke nodded, swallowing his bite. “I did. It’s looking great. They are almost done.”
The young brown eyes glimmered.
“So we can buy horses soon?”
We? Luke smiled.
“Next week Grandpa Holden is coming over for a visit…I already asked him to look around, so maybe he has found some options.”
“Next week?” Danny looked absolutely annoyed.
“It takes as long as it takes,” Reid calmly said and Danny frowned, but didn’t argue.
“And we’re busy enough as it is, Danny. Tomorrow we’ll have our party and in a few days Zoë will be home…”
Luke’s words made all the difference. The frown disappeared and the beaming smile was back.
“Yeah, I almost forgot…”
Luke smiled, suppressing his initial urge to share Margo’s phone call with his two guys. He wasn’t sure if he was desperately trying to postpone that conversation or if his instincts were telling him the timing wasn’t right, but he decided to keep the news to himself. He needed to handle this with care. He would first talk to Reid about it and then they could tell Danny together. In thought he nodded. Yeah, that felt good.
“Pleased with yourself much?” Reid teased and Luke gave him a quick smile.
“I am. I’ll tell you why later.”
Reid gave him a searching glance, then nodded and stood up.
“Coffee?”
“Yeah, please.”
Luke leaned over the table to Danny and started telling him in detail about the new stables and the boy was glued to his father’s words.
Reid watched them with a loving smile. Combining his Paper Day with spending time with Danny had been a real treat for the both of them. He felt more up to speed now, experiencing a class day with Miss Lydia. He had liked her style. She obviously had created lessons that matched the official criteria, but she also added some playful ways to help Danny to deal with his past. Reid had been very impressed by that, especially by Danny’s reaction to it. He still didn’t go into details, but he was clearly more relaxed to talk about the big picture.
After Reid put Luke’s coffee down in front of him - getting a quick smile as reward - and took a seat at the table again, Danny got up and after a telling look - may I?- he lifted the boy on his lap. All the horse talk went over Reid’s head, but he enjoyed himself watching Luke’s enthusiasm and listening to Danny’s excitement and eagerness to learn all there was to learn about looking after a horse.
“Horses are very sensitive. If you treat them with respect and love, they’ll allow you to connect and let me assure you, Reid…that’s an amazing experience.”
Reid almost snorted at the memory of Holden’s words. He felt no need to connect to any smelly germ factory, thank you very much. He had all the connection he needed right here in this kitchen. His mind wandered off to the hospital. How would Zoë be doing? Luke had been a little disappointed after his visit this morning. She had been distant and sad and Luke hadn’t been able to lighten her spirit. Knowing Luke, that was a hard one to accept. Reid’s eyes rested on his lover again. He hoped they were doing the right thing. Could Luke handle aloof behavior? Sure, he had handled Reid’s quirks and cold shoulders just fine, but this little girl was something else.
When Luke - oblivious to Reid’s line of thoughts - looked up to him and gave him his calm and loving smile, Reid took a deep breath. He suddenly felt this sense of doom and foreboding again. It made him swallow, remembering the last time he’d felt it and the events that had followed. What if…
Trust the love.
The words entered his brain loud and clear and he actually felt some reassurance. Yes. He would trust the love. He pulled Danny closer to his chest and gave Luke a seductive smile. Later.