Chapter Text
Hawaii Five-0
Christmas at Steve’s had been long and loud, with plenty of presents and food to share and spread around. Other than the upstairs, there hadn’t been a single section of Steve’s house that hadn’t had a person or an animal or a toy rolling on it for hours on end. They had Christmas dinner on the beach with everyone stretched out, whether it was at the table, the long chairs, or even the grass. Steve and Adam managed to drag a few who polished off their food early into a light scrimmage of football and by the time the game was over, Charlie was curled up on one of the beach chairs fast asleep with Eddie sacked out beside him, both child and dog snorting softly away. One by one, the party dwindled until Steve waved Junior off with Tani and said goodnight to Lou and Renee, the foursome leaving together while Steve kept a watchful eye until they were in their cars driving away.
Danny came up behind him as Steve closed the door, Charlie tucked tightly into his arms, still asleep.
“Man, he’s out,” Steve grinned, peering at Charlie cautiously, as if looking at him too hard would instantly flip some internal ‘must be awake’ switch in the kid and he’d suddenly regain consciousness.
“No kidding. Way too much food for that little stomach of his, though by the way he scarfed it down, you’d think he never ate,” Danny nodded for Steve to follow them up. “Usually, I’d make him brush his teeth, but if I wake him up now he’ll be up till midnight.”
They got Charlie situated, Steve helping Danny to at least change the kid into pajamas and not leave him to sleep in the jeans and shirt he’d been wearing. Danny watched as Steve dropped a soft kiss and a ‘goodnight’ onto Charlie’s forehead. “Cleaning up this other room came in handy,” he murmured as Steve walked up to him. “Yep. Once Junior moves out, the other one will too.” Steve padded downstairs and Danny tagged along behind, settling himself on the couch next to Steve. An irritated huff came from his left, and Danny lifted an apologetic hand at Eddie, who was looking at him with a very accusatory glare at having been disturbed. “Sorry! Jeez…”
“I told you this was his couch,” Steve snickered, leaning forward and grabbing the remote for the television.
“Yeah? What about you? I’m not the only one sitting on this couch, you know, you’re right here next to me.”
“Eddie’s my dog,” Steve shrugged. “I get privileges.”
“You get privileges,” Danny muttered, leaning into Steve’s side just a bit as his partner wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “I get growled at, and you get privileges.”
Steve rolled his eyes. “He did not growl at you.”
“He didn’t – are you deaf? Do we need to make an appointment to get your ears checked?”
Keen to avoid Danny going off on a tangent, Steve inched into Danny’s space, intent written all over his face. “I can give you privileges later, if you want,” Steve murmured into his ear, his lips so close that Danny didn’t even have to look to know the goof was grinning, like he’d thought of something clever.
“Animal.”
Steve laughed into his hair while Danny tugged the remote from his grip. “Home Alone is on.”
“Are you joking? We watched that last night wrapping the rest of the presents, Danny.”
“It’s a timeless Christmas movie, Steven,” Danny leaned away from him and tucked the remote into the cushions on the other side of the couch. And that was that. They were watching Home Alone, at least the first one, and possibly the second one if they were both still awake for it.
Which they were. Two hours and some change later and the credits were rolling, the glare from the TV pushing against the soft glow of the lights from the Christmas tree and the green holly trim Steve had wrapped around the stairs and at the top of the landing, with more lights strung throughout. It was warm, nice, cozy in a way that Danny hadn’t felt in a long time. Perfect even, especially for what the next few minutes would bring.
“I forgot, I have another present for you.”
Steve lifted his head (he’d manfully leaned it back against the couch and may have dozed off and on during the movie) and blinked his eyes, finally looking down at Danny. “Another one? Danny, you already got me enough-“
“It’s just one more, I promise. Didn’t cost hardly anything,” Danny tapped Steve on the knee and regretfully pushed himself out of his warm cocoon, willing himself up the stairs and into Steve’s room, the faster to get back downstairs.
Steve’s room that Danny now shared with him when he spent the night. If he was being honest, it was one of Danny’s favorite things about being in a relationship again; sharing a bed, knowing that someone he loved very much was laying next to him, and that that someone was just as devoted to him. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed that until he’d spent the night at Steve’s house after bro-cation to Kailua and woke up the next morning with Steve still sleeping next to him, breathing deep and even and tucked close against Danny’s side. The fact that it was Steve and not, well, a woman, had been dealt with long ago. Ten years ago, he’d have had someone drawn and quartered for suggesting that he would willingly commit himself romantically to an insane, adrenaline addicted, ask-no-questions-or-permission, it’s-only-a-good-day-if-I-blew-something-up neanderthal Steven J. McGarrett. Now, he’d just as soon as shoot someone for telling him he was crazy for doing just that.
Finding Steve’s last present in the little nook he’d used to hide it, Danny picked it up and forced himself to casually walk back down the stairs, knowing that if he hurried or seemed excited in any miniscule way that Steve would pick up on it and demand to know what was going on. So, he hit the bottom of the steps and held out the gift with merely a, “here you go” as he sat back down and grabbed for the remote, as if this were just another gift, one so meaningless that the television was far more interesting to watch than Steve opening the gift. Steve was inspecting the package as if it might hold an explosive device that he may have to deactivate. Danny rolled his eyes and nudged him with his elbow. “Would you just open it? Huh? Please?”
“Alright, okay, fine, just – stop with the bony elbows,” Steve muttered, tearing into the paper and pulling what looked like some kind of picture frame out and turning it over in his hand. Danny held his breath and Steve stopped. Just stopped, completely and totally, frozen as he stared at the photo nestled in a simple black frame.
“You’ve been bugging me for months for it,” Danny offered a few seconds later when Steve didn’t say anything. “Figured now was as good a time as any.”
“Danny,” Steve choked out, his fingers running over the picture, a picture of Danny, Grace, and Charlie, standing in front of his house holding a large poster board decorated with glitter and drawings of Christmas trees, ornaments, and snowflakes along with rainbows, palm trees, even a large, blue anchor with a happy, clapping seal leaning against it that read, ‘We’ll be HOME for Christmas!’.
Danny leaned into his partner’s side, slipping an arm around Steve’s waist and resting his chin on his partner’s shoulder. “I talked to Charlie about it a couple weeks ago. I owe him a hundred bucks for keeping his mouth shut about it, not blurting it out to you.” Steve laughed, still staring at the photo.
“You remember that day when Grace was over, and you had to run out to the store for something? We’d already made the poster so all we had to do was take the picture.”
Watching Steve’s mind work was like watching the insides of a clock spin and click together, cogs and gears whirring and shifting perfectly to deliver accuracy every second. His brow furrowed, and he sucked his bottom lip in between his teeth for a few moments (which Danny had learned was a pretty big turn on for him, for whatever reason). “Who took the picture?” Steve murmured softly.
“Junior,” Danny answered. “Me, the kids, and Junior. We’re the only ones who knew – well, Rachel, of course but, you know. She kinda has to know where her kid is gonna be living.”
“You sure?” Steve asked, turning his face, his nose brushing against Danny’s. “About everything, you know? You’re sure you want to do this?”
Danny dropped a kiss on Steve’s clothed shoulder. “I’m sure. I’ve thought about it for a while. Yeah, there’ll be adjustments and stuff, but that’s half the fun, right?” He looked up, catching Steve’s earnest gaze and felt his heart clench at the sight. “I love you, babe. I think you and me… we’ve waited long enough to have the life we want, right?”
“Yeah,” Steve breathed, tight and emotional as he tucked himself against Danny, hiding his face in Danny’s neck for a few moments. “Thank you, Danny. This is – I love you, Danno. So much.” He pulled back, pressing a long kiss to Danny’s mouth. Danny leaned back against the couch cushions, pulling Steve with him and opening his mouth, letting Steve take over, at least until an annoyed rumbling grumbled its way into Danny’s ears from the corner of the couch. Danny froze, his eyes opening and looking into Steve’s, whose own hazel orbs were just as confusedly crinkled in the low, Christmas night light. They both turned their heads at the same time, lips peeling away from each other, to see Eddie staring back at them. He offered a harsh puff of air from his nose before flopping back down, emitting another put-upon groan.
“Looks like you’ve maxed out your privileges,” Danny murmured as Steve looked back at him, adorably perplexed at the entire thing.
“Yeah,” he muttered, wonder lacing his tone and Danny couldn’t help but laugh softly. Steve McGarrett was wrapped around Eddie’s paw spectacularly, and it showed. If he was deterred though, it wasn’t for long. A sly grin slipped across Steve’s lips as he pressed another kiss to Danny’s mouth. “I have privileges upstairs,” he whispered.
“Oh?” Danny grinned, kissing him back slowly. “What kind of privileges?”
“Bed privileges,” Steve slid a hand up Danny’s stomach, his fingers trailing a line until the palm was resting on Danny’s chest, right over his heart and where he’d been shot earlier in the year. Danny watched as Steve’s brown head tilted downward to lay a kiss just over the healed wound.
“Bed privileges,” Danny sighed, his own hand moving to cup the back of Steve’s neck. “Our bed privileges?”
“Yeah, Danny,” Steve’s eyes were practically shining, and Danny knew it wasn’t from the gentle glare of the Christmas lights. “Our bed. Our house. Ours.” Danny pushed up just a bit and Steve took the hint, getting to his feet and steadying his partner as Danny stood and took his hand. In the other, Steve clutched the picture frame tightly. Danny knew exactly where Steve would put it, too; right on the side table next to his – their – bed.
“Yep, ours. Although,” Danny inched his way out between the couch and the coffee table as Steve tugged him towards the stairs. “Now that I’m gonna be living here, I feel I need to point out a couple of minor changes that should be made, you know, just little improvements here and there.” Danny didn’t have to be looking at Steve to hear the smile in his response.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way, Danno.”