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"Daddy!"
Steve dropped everything and raced into the living room when he heard Steffie wail. "What is it sweetheart?"
"Matt hit me!"
Steve wanted to rail on Matt and demand why he hit his sister, but he remember the lessons Danny was always trying to impart to him about getting the facts before going off. "Matt," Steve said as calmly as he could, "why did you hit your sister?"
Matt glared and hugged a purple stuffed dragon to his chest. "She took my toy!"
"My toy!" Steffie said.
Steve sighed. He wasn't good at refereeing between the kids. He wished Danny had come instead, but Steffie had called for Steve, so of course Steve came. "Steffie. . ." he started to say yes, it was Matt's toy, but Steffie darted out a hand and grabbed the stuffed dragon. Matt held on tight, and a tug-of-war began.
Oh, god, how did Danny cope with this? Steve took a deep breath and mustered his best "parent" voice to order the kids to stop when Steffie shifted and hit Matt with her tail.
"Daddy, Steffie hit me!"
Steve drew another deep breath and turned his attention to his daughter. Matt, however, took matters into his own hands and shifted himself. Great, now he had a six-foot dragon and a 10-foot dragon in his living room. He was in way over his head. "Danny!"
Danny came charging down the stairs. "What is it? What's wrong, Steve?"
Instantly, the two dragons became two kids, both bawling loudly, the stuffed dragon forgotten between them.
"Matt hit me!"
"She took my toy!"
Steve had a sense of deja vu. Wasn't this where he came in?
Danny took in the scene with one swift glance—the crying children, the discarded toy, his husband standing between them like a physical barrier—and immediately pieced together what had happened. "You're in time out, both of you. Go to your rooms."
"But Danno!" they both protested, sniffles getting more pronounced.
Danny was unmoved. "Now."
The two children scrambled to do as he ordered. Steve stared at his husband in awe. How had he managed to restore order so quickly? "So, that's it?"
"That's it." Danny went and sat on the couch and picked up the remote.
"Aren't you going to do anything else?"
Danny looked at him questioningly. "What else is there to do?"
"Danny, they were fighting!"
"Yeah, so?"
"They shouldn't do that!"
"Was there blood?"
"No. . ." Steve wasn't sure what Danny was getting at.
"Then it's all good." Danny turned his attention back to the TV.
Steve felt like he was missing something. His two perfectly well-behaved children had turned into snarling beasts, literally, and all Danny had done was send them to their rooms. Shouldn't there be more to it than that?
Danny sesned his turmoil through their bond. "Look, Steve, they're siblings. Siblings fight. That's all there is to it. Didn't you and Mary fight?"
"Yeah, but we never hit each other!"
Danny snorted. "If you believe that, you're clearly deluding yourself."
"Did you and your siblings hit each other?"
"All the time. Me and Matty, mostly, but Bridget and Stella got into their share. Man, could those two pull hair." Danny chuckled at the memory.
"But did you ever turn into dragons."
"Probably. I don't really remember."
"Did anyone ever get hurt?"
"Except for some hurt feelings and some bruised dignity, nope. Like I said, if there's no blood, it's all good."
Steve thought about it. "So, we just let them fight?"
"Well, we make it clear that we don't approve, like I did by putting them in time out, but we're not going to stop it altogether,"
"So, they're going to do this forever?" Steve was dismayed at the thought.
"Pretty much, yeah." Danny kicked his feet up on the table and patted the seat next to him. "Relax, babe. You're worrying too much."
Steve couldn't help a slight grin. "Isn't that my line?"
Danny pecked him on the lips. "Not when it comes to the kids. Then, it's my line."
Danny had a point. Steve sighed. He was never going to get the hang of having kids.
Once again, Danny sensed his thoughts and patted Steve's knee. "Don't worry, you'll figure it out."
Steve sighed. He certainly hoped so.
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A/N: So this came about when I was standing in line for lunch and was too close to the person in front of me and she almost hit me in the face with her elbow. She apologized, and I said "If there's no blood, it's all good," and mentioned that was my philosophy, especially with pets. She said "Children, too," and that got me thinking about Matt and Steffie who, after all, are both. ;)