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Danny pulled a large bowl from the fridge, checking to see that his proof had worked and that his bread dough had risen.

Steve sat across from him at the breakfast bar, making a complete mess of the ginger bread cookies, men and reindeer and ornaments, that Danny had given him to decorate. He thought that Grace would have been better suited for this chore, but she and her little brother weren't due to be picked up from the airport until later in the evening.

Tomorrow morning, he would get his kids up for a big breakfast, and set up a station for them to decorate some home baked sugar cookies, a little flour and butter and sugar would bring hours of entertainment for his children...children, not just his child...he couldn't help the small smile as he had ripped the cling wrap from the bowl and dumped the dough onto the floured counter.

Steve looked up from the slightly wonky reindeer he had been trying to spread royal icing onto and asked, "is it finally time to put that bread in the oven?"

Danny knocked his knuckles against the dough, watching it sink and collapse before grabbing the ball and pressing the dough forward with his palm a few times, trying to work the gluten before its final proof, forming a ball again with practice ease.

Steve said, "No, then, huh? Hasn't it been like, three days…"

"You cannot rush real Panettone, Steven, as I have told you several times already…the wait is worth it…now get going on the rest of the cookies and get them into the tin before my Pop shows up and eats them all." He saw Steve sneak a piece of broken antler into his mouth, then said, "or you end up eating them."

"Hey," Steve exclaimed, "I am not eating cookies…I am waiting for the three-day bread…three days, Danno!" Steve took a deep breath in through his nose and went on, "it smells so good."

"That would be the candied fruits…" Danny tossed the dough back into the bowl and covered it with fresh cling wrap, setting it aside to proof for another couple hours. "...and, it will be going into the oven this evening for about half an hour…it'll be done for after dinner coffee…"

Steve had grabbed the tin Danny's mother had set out for the first of many batches of cookies, but stopped stacking the ones he had only used sprinkles on, his voice incredulous, "only thirty minutes? Three days of work and only thirty minutes to bake?"

Danny had already turned and opened the fridge, grabbing the last two sticks of butter, thinking about whether to start with the chocolate or peanut butter fudge, but called over his shoulder, "and it will be consumed even faster…be grateful it's just us tonight and not the whole family...you may even have a chance of leftovers for breakfast tomorrow."

He felt Steve's presence behind him, and then strong arms wrapping him in a comforting hug.

A soft kiss to his neck followed...then gentle nipping of teeth.

A hand on his hip urged him to turn in the embrace, so he went willingly, going up on his toes, wrapping his arms around Steve's neck and pulling him down for a kiss.

Someone had cleared their throat, standing at the bottom of the stairs, and Danny had briefly wondered how that person had managed to have missed all the squeaky boards, that had always seemed to have given him away, when he had tried to sneak out of the house in his younger days.

He and Steve pulled apart, both glancing to see his dad making a bee line for the coffee pot, his bright red robe wrapped around him.

After pouring himself a cup of coffee, he had snagged two frosted cookies, that were still drying on the rack, saying, "don't let me interrupt you, Dan. I'm just getting my morning fortification before heading to the mall with your mother...carry on, son."

Steve dropped a small kiss to his head, and then went back to his stool and picked up his piping bag to finish his cookies.

Danny laid down his ingredients, shutting the fridge door with his foot, thinking, peanut butter fudge first...it was his folks favorite, after all, and tomorrow they would make a run to the store and get some more butter and sugar...and probably baking soda and flour...ginger...ginger, for sure, because his dad had grabbed two more cookies on his way back to the steps, patting Steve on the back and then pulling Danny into a one armed hug, planting a big and sloppy kiss onto his temple and told them, "me and ma are so glad you boys made it for Christmas this year."

"Me too," both he and Steve said at the same time.

"Me too, pop." Danny went on, giving Steve a quick glance. "I'm so glad to be able to spend this Christmas with my whole family."

Danny's dad was half way up the steps, but he had stopped, turning and looking at him and then towards Steve, "yeah, Dan. Nothing better than spending the holidays with your loved ones."

Danny saw Steve lower his head, but then give his dad a small nod, before his dad went back up the steps to get ready for a crazy day of shopping with his mother, but Danny, he had simpler plans.

He left the butter on the counter to soften, picking up an offset knife to help with...save...the cookies Steve was still trying to ice, pulling a stool as close as he could to Steve, bumping his shoulder against Steve's and getting the beautiful smile he was hoping to get and then said, "let's get these done and then start on the rest of the list, huh?"

"What's next," Steve asked, licking some icing from his fingers.

Danny pushed the tray back, thinking about all the baking he had promised his mom he would do. There were sugar cookies to make, fudge and brittle and some more breads and he would, he would get to them all, but not now.

Now, he was going to watch Steve try to make little buttons, on the last ginger bread man, and then he was going to spend some quality time with his loved one.

"Lots to do," he finally said, taking Steve's hand in his, standing and pulling Steve off the stool to follow him into the family room, "but we have all day, babe...and we have to finish decorating the Christmas tree."

"But, Danno..." Steve stopped talking when Danny handed him one of the boxes that sat on the ottoman.

"The other one is for Charlie, but Ma and Pop picked them out, so I hope you like it."

He watched as Steve lifted the lid and found a blue ornament tucked within velvet folds, the emblem for the Navy on one side and Steve's name and the year on the other.

Steve's shocked, "Wha…I…but…" made Danny's heart flood with love, so he took the ornament from Steve's hand and placed it on the family tree, right next to the one his folks had gotten him the year he had made the police force, thinking that being with his family, spending this time with the guy he had loved so much, was in fact, the greatest…the most important thing…the best thing.

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