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Danny Williams was at his wit's end. His partner, husband, and soulmate Steve McGarrett had left for a meeting with the governor, leaving Danny alone with their infant son, Matt. This shouldn't have been a problem. Danny was an experienced father; an infant should be a piece of cake for a man like him. Should being the operative word.
It started going south as soon as Matt woke up from his nap. The infant had immediately started crying. Not that this was a particular issue—Matt often woke up fussy. But this time he was wailing inconsolably, and Danny couldn't calm him down. The child was in dragon form when Danny came rushing in and gathered him in his arms. Tears were dripping down Matt's snout and he was sniffling. "Shhh, shhh, it's okay. I've got you. What's wrong?" Images of Steve filled Danny's head, and he knew immediately what the problem was. This was the first time since Matt's birth Steve had been away for any length of time, and Matt was clearly upset. "It's okay," Danny soothed. "Daddy will be back soon." He sat in the rocking chair and rocked Matt. Eventually, the sobs subsided to hiccups, then ceased altogether, and Matt dozed off again.
When Matt woke up again, he was clearly hungry, so Danny put the baby dragon in his playpen and went to get Matt's bottle. As Danny entered the nursery, Matt scrabbled over the side of his playpen, promptly landing on his snout and starting to wail again. Danny rushed over and carefully set Matt on his feet. "Easy there, buddy. You're not quite up to that yet." Matt couldn't walk or even crawl in human form yet. In dragon form, he was just starting to walk, but he was far from steady on his feet.
Once righted, the tears instantly ceased, and Matt toddled past Danny towards the stairs. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where do you think you're going?" Danny rushed onto the landing just in time to see Matt tumble head over heels down the stairs, landing in a heap at the bottom and once more bursting into tears. Danny gathered him up and murmured softly to him again. "There, there, you just can't rush things, okay? I swear, you're just like your father. Let's get you back in the nursery and get you fed, okay?"
Danny was met with sniffles he decided to interpret as agreement. He went back into the nursery and picked up the bottle. Matt immediately stretched out his neck and snatched the bottle, crunching it into pieces and swallowing bottle, formula, and all. Danny blinked in surprise. "Alright, then. Guess it's time for your bath."
Danny carried the baby dragon into the bathroom and filled the tub, then started to lower him in. Matt turned into a snarling beast, struggling to get away. "Hey, hey, hey, I thought you liked being bathed! You don't give Steve any trouble."
That brought on a fresh bout of crying (and really, Danny was used to babies crying, but this was getting to be excessive), and more images of Steve. Danny sighed. "You're determined to be difficult, aren't you? I'm not going to get any piece until Steve gets back, am I?" Matt just wailed louder. Danny cuddled him until he calmed down again, then managed to bathe him. Danny decided it wasn't even worth trying to get Matt into human form and into pajamas, or even settled in his playpen, so he dried off the dragon and carried him back to the rocking chair, wrapping him into an afghan one of Chin and Kono's aunties had made, and rocking him until they both fell asleep.
Steve found them like that when he came home. He kissed them each on the top of their head. Danny stirred. "Hey, babe, how was the meeting."
"The usual. How about you? Any trouble with Matt?"
Danny smiled brightly at his husband and lied through his teeth. "Nope, none at all."