"-And then can I bring him to school next month, Uncle Steve? We have animal day and—"
"Monkey..."
Danny tried to reel his daughter back in, but it was no use. From the moment he and Steve had told her about Tex, she had been on Cloud Nine. He'd tried to remind her again and again that it was not a done deal. Sure it really kind of was a done deal, but anything could happen between now and the time Tex finally came home with them. He didn't think he could deal with the disappointment from both Steve and Grace. It had been no use, though. She reminded Danny of when she was seven and Rachel would pump her full of sugar before his visits. Except that this sugar high wasn't ending.
"Of course you can, kiddo. That sounds like fun."
Danny looked over at his friend and could practically see his brain coming up with all sorts of ideas for things they could do at this event. He sighed. They were as bad as each other, really. His two kids. When had he signed up for two kids?
"Steve, stop—" The shrill of Steve's phone interrupted them before he could finish. The brunette looked down at the screen nestled in the truck's center console. He scowled and reached down to send the call to voice mail. Hand returned to the wheel and both tightened their grip.
"What's up?"
Steve let out a huff of annoyance, but otherwise didn't reply until the white in his knuckles disappeared a minute later. His answer was a mumble that Danny couldn't quite catch. He laughed at his friend.
"Sorry babe, I didn't quite catch that."
Another huff. "It was a publisher."
"A publisher. Like a book publisher? They know you only read Guns and Ammo right? And even then, I think you just look at the pretty pictures."
Steve turned to him with a raised eyebrow; Danny just smirked at him. Another sigh and Steve turned back to the road.
"They want me to write a book."
"They... want you to write what?"
"That would be so cool, Uncle Steve!" Steve looked at Grace in the rear-view mirror and smiled at her.
"Yeah. This woman, Donna Patrick, she's been hounding me for a couple of weeks. Won't take no for an answer."
"No offence babe, but... why?"
Steve shrugged. "A Navy SEAL writes a book and it's an automatic best seller. I guess the big publishers are actively recruiting."
"Huh. I didn't realize so many guys were doing that. Seems... I dunno... wrong or something."
"Yup." A long pause. "I guess they can't pass up the money."
"Oh yeah? How much?"
Steve turned to him with a smirk. "More every time I turn them down."
Danny laughed. "Finally figured out those negotiation skills, huh?"
"Sure. You know, except that there's pretty much nothing they could offer me that would make me even consider it."
"Everyone at school would be super jealous if you wrote a book."
The former SEAL chuckled. "Sorry Gracie, I'm not gonna write the book." He watched her pout in the mirror. "But they'll still think Tex is pretty cool, huh?"
"Yes!" And she was off again until Danny had to quiet her down as they approached the front gate of Pearl-Hickam. "Oh! Are we here?"
"Sure are, kiddo." If she wasn't belted in, Danny was certain she'd bounce right out of her seat. He couldn't help but smile to himself. Some days he felt like she was growing up too fast, like any day now she was going to be too cool to hang out with him, to give him a special Grace hug, to call him Danno. Then there were days like today, where she just didn't care and she was his little monkey.
As Steve showed his ID to the guard and explained their business, Danny couldn't help but smile to himself. Bringing Tex into their house was going to be great for everyone.
"I don't see why we couldn't take a regular flight, like normal people," Danny groused as they pulled away from the guard post. He'd meant it as a joke, but it carried a little bit more heat than he'd intended. He couldn't really help it. This wasn't going to be the first military transport he had ever taken, and none of his other flights had ever led to anything in even the same time zone as 'good'.
"Aw, c'mon Danno, it's going to be an adventure!" Grace called.
"Yeah, Danno, adventures are awesome!" Steve took one of his hands off the wheel and grasped his shoulder. Though his voice carried the same light-hearted tone as Grace's had, when Danny turned to him, there was worry in his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah." He smiled at Steve, telling him he'd be fine. After all, they were with Grace and that was nothing but good.
He wasn't gonna lie to himself, though. When Steve had suggested it to Grace, Danny wanted to smack him upside the head. He'd been able to arrange to meet with Tom and Tex in Coronado as hoped. Grace was, as predicted, excited to see a place that Steve had spent so much time in. Seeing how interested she really was in learning more about his time in the military, he'd suggested taking a military transport "if I can arrange it – no promises, though, Gracie". Grace squealed as if he'd just give her and all her friends backstage passes to a One Direction concert.
Steve had apologized after. "I shouldn't have said that without talking to you about it first, Danny." It would be cheaper than a commercial flight, though, he'd reasoned. But he had given them an out – after all it couldn't be arranged if Danny didn't want it to be. But Danny agreed. He couldn't turn down the price, after all, not to mention how excited Grace had been at the idea. Didn't mean he had to like it.
It only took a few minutes to drive from the guard post to the small terminal. They carried their overnight bags inside and the Williams sat on stiff metal chairs while Steve went up to check in and make sure they were still able to get on the flight. He'd warned them that they could easily get bumped if an active duty member wanted the seat, or for other operational reasons. As he turned back to them, however, the ex-SEAL wore a smile, so Danny figured they were good to go. He turned to look at his daughter who, despite how rambunctious she had been in the car, had grown silent beside him.
"Everything all right, Monkey?" She seemed nervous, which Danny thought was strange. Despite how young she was, Grace Williams was practically an old pro at flying.
She looked up at him and smiled and nodded, but turned right back to looking at the others sitting around the room. Aside from the three of them, there was a young woman with four kids that all looked younger than six – Danny winced – and about a dozen guys in various colours of uniforms. Steve made his way back to them at that moment, and he sat next to Grace.
"We'll be heading out to the aircraft in about half an hour." He looked down at Grace, probably expecting her to be bouncing in her seat. She was not, and Danny saw Steven's features shift to concern in an instant. "Hey, what's up, kiddo?" He rubbed a hand up and down her back. "You changing your mind? Remember what I said? Until we get on that plane, we can change our minds, buy some real plane tickets. You just let me know."
She shook her head and looked up at him. "Uncle Steve," she whispered. "Are all those men going to war?"
Steve blinked, like that was the last question he was expecting, then turned around to take in the group. Danny wondered what he was looking for as he scanned the crowd. A moment later he turned back, sparing Danny a glance before focusing back on Grace.
"Maybe a couple of them," he answered honestly. As far as Danny knew, Steve had never lied to Grace. "The rest are probably just going to the mainland. Maybe they've been transferred, or they're going on training. They could just be on vacation, but Active Duty guys have to wear their uniforms on the plane."
"Oh."
"All right?" Grace looked up at her uncle and grinned. That looked a lot more convincing than when Danny had asked her. "Great."
Steve leaned back in his chair and opened an arm in invitation, looking up at Danny like he was asking permission as he did so. Like Danny would ever deny his friend Grace-hugs or vice versa. Grace leaned into Steve and wrapped her arms around him and then they were off again, talking about what they were going to do with Tex when they brought him to school.
Danny look up and met the mother's eyes across the room. They shared a small smile of understanding... It was going to be a long flight for them both. But Danny thought it would probably be the best flight he'd ever been on.
