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Grace had decided she wanted to have a slumber party for her birthday, and she wanted it to be at Steve’s house. Rachel had balked at first, of course, but how could you argue with the kid logic of having a private beach literally in the backyard for your slumber party? Not much better than that—even a fancy house in an exclusive neighborhood.
Besides, Grace stayed at Steve’s house with Steve and Danny all the time so she was as comfortable there as anywhere.
All of the parents had worried at first about having a bunch of 10-year olds running around on the beach and swimming in the ocean, but they’d finally settled on enlisting Kono as chaperone and lifeguard and everyone was happy enough with the arrangements. Steve and Danny would be around, too, of course.
Now, Danny looked at Steve and had to laugh. Steve had been pretty gung-ho on the whole idea from the start—well, since they got Kono involved anyway—and had helped Gracie make all the plans. He had helped make everything perfect for her. They were a few hours in, and all the girls were racing around on the beach—playing tag?—with a laughing Kono watching them. Steve...well, Steve might have been a little shell-shocked.
Steve lounging in a chair on the beach was a regular sight, of course, but this. This was not relaxed, lounging Steve. This was on-the-verge-of-collapse, stunned Steve. He was an absolute puddle, eyes a little crazed. Danny dropped to one knee next to his chair and leaned in, guiding Steve’s face toward him with fingertips under his chin. The glazed eyes focused on Danny and Steve groaned.
“What, throwing in the towel already? Some superSEAL you are.” Danny chuckled affectionately and kissed Steve briefly on the lips.
“No. No, I just need...a minute.” It was a testament to how utterly thrown Steve was that he didn’t grab Danny and drag him closer when Danny kissed him. He lifted up his hands and then let them drop in what could have been interpreted as a gesture of defeat.
Danny wasn’t having any of it, though. He’d let Steve rest for a minute, but then he was going to help Danny keep this show on the road. He’d practically begged for the opportunity. “No no no. You are not leaving me to deal with eight 10-year old girls. Not when you were the one saying, ‘Come on, Danno, it’ll be fun!’”
“I know, I know, I’m not—” Steve sighed and heaved himself out of his chair. He held a hand out for Danny and Danny gratefully took it and pulled himself back up to his feet. He glanced at the girls, then back at Danny. “Should we take them swimming before we eat?”
Danny considered the time. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Even if the whole thing about swimming after eating is just an old wives’ tale. It’ll give them time to dry out before we have to let them into the house again, too.”
Steve nodded and quickly stripped off his t-shirt, dropping it on the chair. Danny couldn’t resist the opportunity to admire his partner’s nearly-naked body. Briefly. There were children around.
They walked down to the beach, calling out to the girls. “Time for swimming! Swim now if you want to swim!”
Kono jogged over to them as they watched the girls race toward the waves. “Don’t go too far out!” Danny shouted after them. He turned to Kono. “Hey, thanks for keeping such a good eye on them. I was worried about having them on the beach. Hard to control access to the water when they’re right next to it.”
“No problem, brah, I’m having fun. Not that you both don’t owe me one for this.” She grinned. “How long do we have before dinner time?”
He glanced at Steve. “Oh, I’d say— an hour?”
Steve nodded. “Yeah, I’ll head up and start the barbecue in about 45 minutes. If you start getting them out of the water in an hour, I should have food ready for them by the time you get everyone up here, toweled off, and ready for dinner.”
“Great, see you in an hour!” Kono called back toward them as she headed into the water in the middle of the girls, most of whom were already hopping around in the surf.
“You’re going in, aren’t you?” Danny asked Steve.
Steve glanced down at his bare chest. “Yes?”
Danny rolled his eyes. “Oh, like that’s the only reason you would have taken your shirt off, Mr Exhibitionist.” He held up a hand to ward off Steve’s inevitable stuttering protest. “Oh, stop it. You know I’m right, but who cares? You love it, I love it. Go. Have fun, and bring my daughter back in one piece, please.”
Steve’s wide smile as he headed toward Grace warmed Danny’s heart. Grace was running toward them already, and threw herself into Steve’s arms when she reached him. “Thank you, Steve, we’re having so much fun!” Steve gave her a squeeze and let her go. Grace ran and threw her arms around Danny’s waist, too, giving him a quick hug before racing back to the water. “Come on, Steve!”
Danny stood and watched them for a few minutes. He could swim, of course, but he was pretty serious when he said he really didn’t enjoy swimming as recreation. Besides, it was smart to leave one of the adults dry and on land. He could see Kono playing in the shallower surf with most of the girls while Steve took a few of the more adventurous—including Grace, of course, Danny noted with a sigh—out a little further.
Danny headed up to the lanai to start getting food organized, but kept an eye on the beach and the waves as much as he could. After a little while, he saw Steve hand the girls he’d taken out off to Kono and head up the beach. Danny grabbed a towel and met him at the stairs.
Steve grabbed the towel and threw it over his shoulder, leaning in to kiss Danny. He started to snake an arm around Danny’s waist, but Danny sidestepped him. “Hey, I’m dry here.”
“So what? You usually don’t mind if I get you all wet after a swim.”
“Yes, but I usually don’t have eight little girls who will be traumatized by your—” He watched Steve raise an eyebrow and threw his hands in the air, palms up. “Fine, OUR. Traumatized by our usual subsequent activity when you insist on climbing all over me after your swim.”
Steve laughed and stepped slightly away from Danny, towelling himself off briefly before turning to the barbecue. “Hey, you brought everything out already. Thanks.”
“Yep. Might as well do something while I waited for all of you fish to finish playing in the water.”
Steve handled the barbecue like a pro while Kono herded the girls out of the water and up to the lanai, where Danny wrapped a towel around each girl’s shoulders before allowing them to enter. After a few minutes, the girls were mostly towel-dried and were sprawled in various chairs and lounges around the lanai, moaning about how hungry they were.
That was one thing Danny remembered about swimming as a kid. You always felt like you were starving to death the instant you got out of the water. He laughed as he watched two of the girls trying to get into the hammock together, smiled fondly at Grace, who was talking animatedly with the girl she’d collapsed on a bench with, and then, before he knew it, the food was ready.
After dinner, everyone moved inside for the birthday cake. Grace squealed when she saw it, bouncing happily on her toes and grinning at Danny, Steve, and Kono. It was decorated with dolphins, as if they were leaping out of the surf. It was almost a shame that they’d have to slice it up and destroy the pretty picture. Something told him even Grace wouldn’t mind, though; after all, that’s how you get to the cake.
The girls gathered around and Steve lit the candles. After they’d sung “Happy Birthday” to Grace, Danny told her to make a wish. Grace squeezed her eyes shut briefly then opened them again and gave Danny a dazzling smile. She leaned over and blew out all 10 candles with one breath.
Everyone clapped and Danny went to hug the birthday girl. “What’d you wish for, monkey?”
“I can’t tell you that, Danno!” Grace looked scandalized. “If I tell you, my wish won’t come true.”
“Okay, okay,” he laughed, letting her go. It took a while for all the presents to be unwrapped, but he could see that the girls were having fun.
Danny sidled up to Kono, who was looking on with a fond smile. He loved the fact that his adopted family—his ohana—cared so much about his baby girl. He nudged her shoulder with his. “You really don’t have to stay now that everyone is indoors and safe. You should head out and have some fun.”
“What are you talking about? Today was fun.” She glanced at her phone, checking the time. “I guess I should head out, though.” She nodded at the girls. “I imagine they’ll be heading to bed soon.”
Danny chuckled. “Yeah, to bed if not to sleep.”
Kono grinned, a bit of an evil glint in her eyes. “Who sleeps at a slumber party?”
“Yeah, yeah. I know the whole point is to try to stay up all night, but they had a busy day. They’ll sleep.” He looked at the girls, now amped up on cake and ice cream, and amended, “Eventually.”
Kono laughed and started to gather her things together.
“Seriously, Kono, thank you for everything. I don’t think half the moms would have let their kids come to a beach party until they heard you’d be there with them. I appreciate you giving up your Saturday for my daughter.”
“Hey, I’d do anything for your kid, you know that.”
“Yeah, I do know that.” He gave her a quick hug. “But thank you anyway.”
“Any time, brah.”
While Steve walked Kono to the front door, Danny led the girls to the den, which would serve as their “bedroom” for the night. Steve and Grace had rearranged and re-decorated the space for the party and it looked nothing like the dark, sinister room it had once seemed to Danny. Honestly, he was pretty happy about that change.
He watched for a few minutes as the girls laid out their sleeping bags and got their pajamas together. He reminded Grace to make sure everyone knew where the bathroom was and to remember that she was the host, even if it was her birthday, then he left them to it and went to find Steve.
-----
Steve and Danny watched TV for a while, studiously ignoring the girls’ giggling and shrieks of laughter. Finally they went up to bed, deciding not to explicitly look in on the girls; they were giggling, everything was fine.
That did not prevent them from announcing their presence in other ways, though, as they passed by the door to the den on the way upstairs.
Danny laid a hand on Steve’s arm, stopping him for a moment. “GOSH, STEVE, IT SURE IS LATE.” The giggling behind the door ceased; they must be listening.
“YES IT IS, DANNY.”
“GOOD THING THOSE GIRLS ARE SLEEPING. THEY HAD A REALLY LONG DAY.” Some of the giggling started up again.
“DON'T THEY HAVE PLANS FOR TOMORROW? I KNOW THEIR PARENTS ARE COMING TO PICK THEM UP IN THE MORNING. THEY MUST HAVE IMPORTANT SUNDAY PLANS.”
“YES THEY DO, STEVE.”
“GOOD THING THEY'RE SLEEPING, THEN.” Gales of laughter came from the girls. Danny and Steve grinned at each other and then continued up the stairs.
-----
Some time later, Steve and Danny were lying in the dark, trying to sleep. Unfortunately, they could still hear the giggling and other noises the girls were making. Every time one of them started to drift off, something would startle him awake again.
After one of the times Danny jerked himself back from the edge of sleep Steve chuckled and turned toward him, laying a hand on Danny’s stomach and letting his fingers slip up under the hem of his t-shirt. “We aren’t going to sleep tonight, either, are we?”
“Probably not much. Hey, watch it.” He swatted Steve’s roaming hand lightly, then settled his own hand on top of Steve’s to still it. “None of that tonight.”
Steve’s eyes widened. “I wasn’t!” he protested. “I just—”
“You just nothing. No traumatizing 10-year old girls. Ten-year old girls prefer to think that no parents have sex, ever, and I shudder to think about the questions they’d subject their parents to about Gracie’s two dads having sex.”
“I know that, Danny,” Steve almost growled.
“Oh! Shhh.”
Danny’s sudden command made Steve go completely still. “What?” he whispered, looking around.
Danny saw him look toward the nightstand drawer where they kept their guns and grabbed Steve’s arm. “Not that, idiot, not that I don’t appreciate your instant protective instinct when my daughter is in the house, you understand, but— do you hear anything?”
“No, nothing.” Steve looked puzzled.
“Exactly!” Danny grinned happily and Steve’s grin, a little slower in coming, soon matched his. “Let’s go check on them.”
“Really?” Steve looked a little skeptical about the idea, but he went along easily enough.
When they got to the door to the den, Danny eased it open slowly and quietly until he could peer inside, leaning on the door frame. Steve crept up behind him, placing a hand at Danny’s waist and pressing up against Danny’s back to look over his shoulder.
Danny quickly counted heads and looked for his daughter. She was sleeping peacefully, half in-half out of her sleeping bag. The girls were sprawled around the room, all sound asleep. He sighed happily and Steve wrapped an arm around Danny’s waist, pulling him closer. Then Steve got very still, unmoving.
After they’d stood there for a minute or two, Danny looked up at Steve curiously, then sucked in a breath. The look of wonder on Steve’s face was breathtaking. “Hey,” he whispered, reaching a hand up and behind him to stroke Steve’s cheek. Steve leaned into his hand slightly and Danny smiled. “What’s up with that face?”
“What face?”
Fond-wonder face was morphing into confused face so Danny gestured at the girls. “The face you had a second ago, looking at them.”
“Oh, uh.” Steve ducked his head a bit, embarrassed. “I just— thank you,” he said quietly.
Danny turned in Steve’s arms so he could wrap his arms around Steve and look fully up into his face. “Thank you for what?”
“For, uh— for sharing her, sharing this, with me?”
“Nowhere else we’d rather be, babe.” Danny wrapped a hand around the back of Steve’s neck and pulled him down for a kiss. He glanced back over his shoulder at the sleeping girls, silently giving thanks to whatever deity might be out there for his little girl. He couldn’t imagine his life without her. Then he stepped around Steve and grabbed his hand. “Let’s get back to bed, huh?”
Steve smiled, the big goofy smile that Danny couldn’t get enough of, and followed.