"Dad," Grace's whisper was barely audible as she called from outside her father's slightly ajar bedroom door. She softly pushed on the door and stepped inside. She inched closer to the bed, taking small steps. "Danno," she called again, a little louder. Her small voice was quivering as she approached the bed. "Danno," she nudged her sleeping father in the back.
Danny startled awake. His heart was thumping wildly in his chest as his daughter's voice cut through the darkness. "Grace?" he mumbled as he forced himself into consciousness. "What's wrong, Baby?" He pushed himself into a sitting position and let the blankets pool around his waist. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and tried to get his eyes to focus in the dark.
"Can I sleep with you?" Grace asked.
Danny pulled the blankets back and Grace wasted no time crawling into the king sized bed. She scooted close to him, resting her head on the edge of his pillow. Danny pulled the covers up and tucked them around his daughter before lying back down. He placed a protective arm over her shoulders and pulled her close.
"I had a bad dream," she whimpered before he could ask what was wrong. "I dreamt those bad guys killed you tonight at the dance." Grace's body began to tremble as she relived the nightmare.
"You're shaking like a leaf." Danny rubbed a soothing thumb over her cheek and wiped away her tears. "It's okay, Monkey." He lightly kissed her forehead. "I'm fine. Nobody hurt me." He turned his head and read the display on his alarm clock. It was just after two in the morning. Danny groaned. He had barely been asleep for two hours. After the fiasco with the hostage situation at the winter formal, he had driven both Will and Grace's friend home while Steve and the team finished up at the scene. He didn't want the kids exposed to anymore violence than they already had that evening.
Grace was silent for a few minutes and Danny thought she had drifted off to sleep. She sniffled and wiped a tear away with the edge of Danny's pillowcase. "You haven't called me Monkey in a long time," Grace said quietly.
Danny couldn't remember the last time he had called Grace by her nickname. Couldn't remember the last time she wanted his comfort or wasn't embarrassed by his presence. His daughter seemed to be growing up so fast the last few years. Lately they just seemed to butt heads about everything from her wearing makeup to the style of jeans she liked to wear. Danny was at a loss for words. He wasn't good at handling the idea that his daughter didn't need him like she used to when she was younger.
"I'm sorry, Danno," Grace's voice trembled as she spoke. "I should have told you about Will."
Danny grinned despite himself. He was her age once and he vaguely remembered keeping the same kind of secret from his parents. It was just different having the shoe on the other foot and being the parent. "I don't mean to embarrass you, Grace"
"I know." She snuggled closer to her father and her breathing began to even out.
"I just want you to be honest with me. Can you do that? From here on out? No more lies. No more hiding stuff from me."
"I promise, Danno."
"You were very brave tonight. I'm proud of you for keeping your cool under the circumstances."
"You're the brave one, Danno. Weren't you scared?"
"I was petrified, Grace. I was so worried something would happen to you and I wouldn't be able to protect you from those people."
"I knew you would save us."
"Well, technically it wasn't me. It was Steve and the rest of the team."
"Will told me what you did."
"Oh yeah?" Danny cringed. He really didn't want his daughter to know that he had killed a few men that evening at her dance. At least Will came in after the fact and didn't have to witness it himself either. "What did he tell you I did?"
"Crawled through that crawlspace to get help."
"Oh- yeah. That." Danny made a face in the dark. He couldn't believe he had voluntarily gotten into that small crawlspace either. His heart began to beat faster as he relived one of the most terrifying things he had ever done in order to save those kids' lives. He had always been petrified of confines spaces. Was pretty sure he always would be. But he did what he had to do and he didn't die of a panic attack in the process.
"Danno," Grace's voice was soft.
"Yeah, Monkey?"
"Thanks for saving us. And for letting me sleep with you."
Danny kissed Grace's forehead again. "I love you, Gracie."
"Love you too, Danno."
A few minutes later Grace was sound asleep. It took Danny another hour before sleep reclaimed him. The night had taken a toll on him. In the last few months, it had felt like he was losing all connection with Grace. But his little girl was still in there. He would cherish this moment for a long time.
The following morning, Danny awoke around seven. Grace was buried under the covers still sound asleep. He carefully got out of bed so he wouldn't wake her and padded slowly to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. There was a knock on his door and when Danny checked, Steve was standing on the other side holding a box and a jacket. Danny opened the door and let his friend into his home.
"Isn't it a little early for house calls?" Danny asked as he strolled back towards the kitchen, Steve following behind.
"Nah, I figured you'd be up already." Steve smiled wide at his friend. "Was I wrong?"
Danny chuckled. Steve knew him so well. "No, I just got up actually. Would you like a cup?"
"Sure, thank you. I brought you some doughnuts." Steve pulled out a chair and took a seat at the kitchen table. "We were doing a sweep of the building last night and I found your jacket in the electrical room." Steve placed the suit jacket over a kitchen chair.
"Thank you. With everything that happened, I forgot all about it."
"You did good last night, Danny." Steve accepted the cup of steaming coffee from Danny. "You alone took out five guys. One even with your bare hands."
Danny's face flushed pink with embarrassment. "I wasn't about to let anything happen to Grace." He raised his cup of coffee towards his friend. "Besides, I've learned a few things from you over the years."
"Lou told me your kids are dating."
Danny cringed and let out a long sigh. "Don't remind me. Why does she have to grow up? Why can't she stay little and be my little Monkey forever?"
"Because that's what kids do, Danny."
"I know." Danny pulled out a chair next to Steve and sat down. "She crawled into bed with me this morning at two, scared to death, shaking like a leaf. She said she had a dream those men killed me."
"God I can't imagine how scared she must have been."
"Yeah. The kids were all so brave." Danny huffed out a sigh.
"What's wrong?"
Danny rolled his coffee cup between his palms. "If I ask her to be honest with me about what's going on in her life, I have to be honest with her as well."
"What are you talking about? You never lie to your kids."
"I'm talking about us." Danny motioned between himself and Steve. "She needs to know about us."
Steve reached for Danny's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Okay. We'll tell her today."
Danny leaned forward and brushed his lips against Steve's. "I've been wanting to do this since you showed up last night and saved the day."
"I didn't save the day. That was all you, Danno."
Danny chuckled. "Okay, if you insist. I'll take most of the credit for this one." He kissed Steve and then sat back. "I mean, I did crawl through a severely confined space to save my daughter and all her friends."
Steve raised an eyebrow impressed. "And how did you manage that?"
Danny blew out a breath. "I have no idea and do not for one second, even think of ever asking me to do it again."
"I wouldn't dream of it, Danny." Steve took a long sip of coffee. He stared at his friend beside him and was thankful that no one was hurt last night. "So how long before Grace is awake?"
"She's a teenager. Your guess is as good as mine." Danny took a swallow of his coffee. "Which is good. It's good because now we can discuss how we are going to tell her about, you know, about us. She's going to freak out."
"It will be fine. She's not going to freak. Okay?" Steve stood up and moved to stand behind Danny. He draped his arms over Danny's shoulders and kissed the top of his head. "I love you, you love her, that's all that matters."
