Disclaimer: I own no rights to Hawaii Five-0 or any of its characters. This is a work of fan-fiction and absolutely no infringement is intended.
"Uncle Steve, do you think I could invite my friend Sam over sometime? I sort of feel sorry for him and I know he'd really like to play with Eddie and go swimming, and maybe you and Danno could even take us paddle-boarding." Steve and Charlie were in Steve's backyard tossing a Frisbee to Eddie, who always promptly brought it back and dropped it at their feet. Danny had a late meeting with the assistant prosecuting attorney about his testimony in an upcoming trial, so Steve had volunteered to pick up Charlie after school. Truth be told, spending time with Charlie was one of Steve's favorite things.
"Sure, Charlie, you know you're always welcome here and if you want to bring your friend along sometime, that's fine too, as long and Danno and Sam's parents all say it's okay."
"Thanks, Uncle Steve, you're the best." Charlie threw his arms around Steve's waist and grinned up him with a huge snaggletooth smile. "I can't wait to tell Sam. He's going to be so excited."
Steve returned the hug, cupping the back of Charlie's head. That face, so like Danny's must have looked as a child, made him wonder if his partner had ever been as happy and as care-free as his son. He doubted it, from the stories he'd heard, Danny had been born with anxiety as his constant unwelcome companion.
"Hey, buddy, why do you feel sorry for Sam, is something going on with him? Is he having trouble at school or at home maybe?"
"No, nothing like that," Charlie told him as he knelt to give Eddie a hug and a rub after the dog dropped the Frisbee at their feet once again. "It's just the other day I was telling Sam about my three daddies and he said he only has one. I just felt sorry for him, that's all."
"Because he only has one daddy?" Steve was confused by Charlie's statement, but at the same time fascinated by how his mind worked.
"Uh huh," Charlie said as he continued to hug Eddie who loved all the attention the little boy gave him.
"Because you have three?" Steve asked, confused by Charlie's statement.
"Uh huh."
"Charlie, buddy, why do you say you have three daddies? Is your mommy dating someone?" Danny hadn't mentioned anything about Rachel dating since her divorce from Stan had become final, but maybe she was keeping it quiet.
"No," Charlie answered. Eddie rolled over on his back and Charlie gave him a vigorous belly rub.
Steve was relieved Rachel apparently wasn't dating anyone without Danny knowing about it. To say his partner was protective of his kids was an understatement in the extreme. Steve was sure that if Rachel brought a man into Grace and Charlie's lives without letting Danny know so he could run a background check, there would be hell to pay. "Then I guess you're going to have to help me out, buddy, because by my math you only have two daddies, Danno and Daddy Stan." Although the boy didn't see Stan very often anymore since he'd permanently moved to the mainland, Steve knew they still talked or Skyped a couple times a week.
Charlie glanced up, head tilted to one side, "and you, silly. You make three." The expression on Charlie's face was so open and innocent it made something in Steve's chest clinch. Before Steve could figure out how to respond to that potentially life-altering declaration, Charlie bent down and picked up the Frisbee Eddie had dropped at his feet earlier and threw it as hard as he could, laughing as Eddie immediately gave chase.
H50*H50*H50*H50*H50*H50*H50
"Charlie said something before you got here that has me kind of confused," Steve told Danny. They were standing in Steve's back yard watching Charlie and Eddie play chase, the Frisbee having been forgotten at some point. Danny was still in his slacks and dress shirt, having come straight from the PA's office, but he'd rolled up his sleeves and undone an extra button on his shirt. Steve swallowed hard and turned his gaze away from hint of chest hair peeking out of his partner's open collar and back towards the boy and the dog, both of whom had an apparently endless supply of energy.
"Oh yeah, what'd he say?" Danny asked, but before Steve could answer, Danny gave his own guess. "Something about Spiderman being better than Batman, I bet. I don't know where I went wrong with that boy. How he can possibly think some kid stupid enough to get bitten by a radioactive spider is better than Batman? Batman, who, I might add, was able to become a superhero without having any actual super powers. Spiderman, bah, it's ridiculous."
Long used to Danny's non sequitur tirades, Steve ignored him and answered the original question. "He said he was lucky because he has three daddies and he felt bad for his friend, Sam, because Sam only has one."
"He said that, huh? What did you say?"
I asked him who his three daddies were. I thought maybe Rachel was dating someone she hadn't told you about, but don't worry, she's not." Steve was quick to add. No need to set Danny off on another tangent.
"So what did Charlie say?"
"He said that you and Stan and ... and I are his daddies. Me, Danny, he thinks of me as a dad."
"Uh huh, is that a problem? Do you not want to be one of my kid's dads?" Danny asked. "He's a great kid, I'll have you know. Any man would be lucky to call him son." Steve wasn't sure why Danny was being so nonchalant about this. His son was calling another man daddy, one who wasn't related to him in any way. This was the kind of thing that would normally result in wild hand gestures and a high-pitched rant.
"Is it a problem? No, it's not a problem, Danny, but, I don't understand. Why would he think about me like that? Don't get me wrong, I love that kid. Charlie is amazing, but, but…" He trailed off, unsure of how to express his feelings in a way that would make sense.
"Steve," Danny's tone was placating. "You must know that Charlie has a somewhat distorted view of what a family is, especially when it comes to fathers. I mean, his is about as far from a nuclear family a kid can get. That doesn't mean it's bad, it's just not the norm, not the norm we grew up with anyway and I dare to say, not the norm even today. And with the whole Hawaiian ohana thing, it's even more confusing. Considering things from his point of view, it's really not all that surprising that he'd think of you as one of his dads, or a father-figure anyway. You spend a lot of time with him, he idolizes you. I mean, did you or did you not pick him up from school today because I had to work?"
"I did, but..."
"And, did you or did you not redecorate his room and put his bed together, with very little help from me, I might add."
"Yeah, I did, but..."
And, did you or did you not help Charlie with his First Grade science fair project, a project that took second place and won him a ribbon?"
"The kid was robbed. His project was the best one, hands down. The other kid's parents must have bribed the judges."
Ignoring him, Danny continued, "And, how many times have you tucked him in at night? I'll tell you how many. A lot. I hate to break it to you Steve, but you are basically my co-parent, so it makes sense that Charlie would think of you as another daddy."
"Co-parent, huh?"
"Yep. Congratulations, it's a boy."
"In that case," Steve didn't finish, instead he pulled Danny to him and into a kiss that in Steve's mind was years overdue. When Danny didn't respond, Steve thought he may have miscalculated, which was very possible since he'd pretty much acted on impulse. But, when Danny pushed him away and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, Steve thought the whole co-parenting conversation was now moot since he'd probably just destroyed his and Danny's friendship.
"What the hell, Steven?" Danny yelled at him. "How do we go from talking about Charlie to you kissing me, just like that?"
"I figured it was a perk," Steve answered with false bravado, even as he took a step backwards in case Danny decided to punch him. He knew, both from observation and personal experience, that Danny's punches were best avoided whenever possible.
"A perk, a perk he says, what the hell are you talking about, a perk?" Danny asked, all the while exhibiting the wild hand-waving and high-pitch emotion Steve had expected from him earlier.
"Well, you said I was your co-parent, right?" Maybe he could talk himself out of this and salvage the most important relationship he'd ever had.
"So? What does that have to do with you lunging at me like a loon?" Danny stood with his hands on his hips looking at Steve like he was crazy.
"Well, the way I figure it, Rachel and Stan are co-parents because they were married and Stan was Charlie's stepdad. So, if I'm your co-parent and Charlie thinks of me as another dad then it must be because of our relationship. Right?"
"True, but might I remind you of one very important distinction? We," he gestured between himself and Steve, "you and I," he repeated the gesture, "are not married. Hell," he threw up his hands, "we're not even together."
"Aren't we though?"
"What? Married? I think I'd remember that, Steven."
"No. Together." It all made perfect sense to Steve, if only he could get Danny to come to the same realization, the realization that they belonged together as a couple, that the two of them, along with Grace and Charlie, could be a real family.
"Well, yes," Danny huffed, "in the literal sense, right now we are together, in that we are in the same place at the same time, but if you mean in the sense that we are in an intimate relationship, not so much. Otherwise, I wouldn't be sleeping alone quite so often."
"Hmm."
"What does that mean? Hmm?"
"It means, why aren't we together like that? If you think about it, except for the sleeping alone part, we're practically married. So, if I'm going to be your co-parent and Charlie's third daddy then maybe we should get all the perks of being in a relationship. I mean, I think I just proved that I'm attracted to you. You and your kids are already my family. I'd just like to make it a little more official. Then neither of us would have to sleep alone. What do you say?"
"What do I say, he asks? Did you just propose to me?"
"What? No," Steve answered. He couldn't quite decipher the look on Danny's face. Shock, definitely, but Steve thought he saw something else too, hope, maybe? "That is, not unless you wanted it to be a proposal. Did you? Want it to be a proposal, I mean?"
"No, you big goof," Danny quickly responded, but he was smiling. Steve took that as a good sign. "Not yet anyway. Let's start with a few of those perks first and see where that takes us."
"Yeah?" Steve needed confirmation that what he thought Danny just said was actually true.
"I mean, Charlie apparently already thinks of you as one of his daddies, and we wouldn't want to disappoint him now would we?" Danny asked, his head was tilted to one side, much like his son's had been earlier, as he looked at Steve.
"No, we certainly would not. We would not want to disappoint Charlie."
"So, what do you say we try that kiss again?" Danny asked. "You kind of took me by surprise earlier, but this time I promise to be a little more enthusiastic."
True to his word, Danny was definitely more enthusiastic during the second kiss. In fact, he was so enthusiastic that when the kiss ended they were both out of breath and Danny's shirt had somehow come untucked.
"So, yeah," Danny croaked. He cleared his throat and tried again. "So, that was..." They were distracted by the sound of laughter and barking and looked over to see Charlie and Eddie rolling around in the grass together.
"Charlie and Eddie have been playing all afternoon," Danny said gesturing towards the boy and the dog. "They're both going to crash as soon has they've had their dinner. Maybe, we can finish this discussion then?"
"Yeah, yeah, that sounds good," Steve answered. His voice was gruff with emotion. The heat and love in Danny's eyes made his heart skip a beat. He looked to where Charlie was now sitting on the grass starring out towards the water, Eddie's head in his lap, before he looked back at Danny, his partner, his best friend, the love of his life. "I'm really looking forward to that discussion." Steve reached out and pulled Danny to his side and was rewarded with a smile and a look that were both full of promises. Yep, perks were better than punches any day.
End.
A/N: The idea of Charlie talking about his three daddies has been bouncing around in my head for awhile. I probably started to write a story using that idea a half a dozen times and it was always Danny mentioning to Steve that Charlie had referred to him as one of his three daddies and I was never happy with the results. I finally decided to flip it and make the conversation be between Charlie and Steve. After that, the story flowed much more freely. I hope you enjoyed the results even if I think my stories have been overly fluffy lately. Thanks so much for reading