Disclaimer: See initial chapter.
A/N: Written for Irene Claire as a surprise birthday present. Hau 'oli la Hanau (Happy Birthday). I hope that you enjoy this. It's mostly fluff, with a little bit of angst/hurt/comfort.
"Daddy?" Danny's voice was whisper soft, and yet Steve heard it.
Groaning internally, Steve had only a moment's notice before the bed dipped, and then shook as, not only Danny, but his entourage of pets that accompanied him almost everywhere he went, clambered onto Steve's bed.
An elbow smashed him in the gut, forcing an, "Oof," out of him. A knee to the groin stole Steve's breath, and when he opened his mouth, he breathed in a mouthful of cat fur.
After circling the foot of the bed to find the 'perfect spot', Stitch finally settled, a heavy weight on Steve's feet, and Danny's foot caught Steve in the nose before the boy finally made it to his desired destination on the other side of Steve's bed.
"Danny?" Steve said as he pushed Stormy off of his face, causing the kitten to hiss at him before resettling on his chest with a rumbling purr.
As far as rude awakenings went, this one was currently at the top. Steve blinked the sleep out of his eyes and lifted his hand to look at his watch. Five a.m. He'd had maybe three hours of sleep.
"You know, uncle Chin and Auntie Malia's baby, Mahealani?" Danny said as he settled himself cross legged beside Steve.
Steve racked his sleep befuddled brain for the possible significance of Danny's question and frowned as he drew a blank. He nodded, because, yes, he did know the two month old. She was the joy of Chin's life.
"It's five in the morning," Steve said dumbly, still trying to wake himself up enough to follow Danny's train of thought. He hoped Danny hadn't had a nightmare. It didn't look like he had, but Danny didn't like to talk about his nightmares, and often pretended that nothing was wrong. It was normal, according to the doctor.
"I was thinking," Danny said in a voice far too serious for a boy of Danny's age at five in the morning.
"About what?" Steve asked around a yawn.
He plucked Stormy off of his chest, and plonked the kitten down in Danny's lap.
"I want a baby," Danny said matter of fact, big blue eyes boring into Steve's with an intensity that was rather alarming, and disconcerting.
"A baby?" Steve asked, suddenly wide awake, making sure that he'd heard Danny correctly. He had the feeling that someone, somewhere was playing a practical joke on him, or that maybe he was having a bizarre dream, and, at any moment, he'd wake up alone in his bed.
Danny nodded, and petted Stormy, drawing loud buzzing purrs from the kitten. "I want a little girl, like Uncle Chin and Auntie Malia have. Did you know Joey has a baby? And Christine? An-"
"Who?" Steve asked, interrupting Danny's litany of strangers who had babies. Steve didn't have a clue what any of this had to do with anything, and why Danny had to tell him about this at five in the morning.
Sitting up earned Steve a groan and a lift of an eyelid from Stitch who glared at him, and then sighed heavily before settling down back to sleep, muzzle resting on his paws. Danny moved closer, leaning against Steve's side, and tilted his head so that he could look into Steve's face.
"My friends at school. They all have babies," Danny said as though Steve should already have known that. Maybe he should have. "I want a baby, too."
"Danny." Steve ran a hand through his hair, and stared for a few long seconds at the little boy who'd plastered himself to his side as he tried to figure out what to say. Danny's hair was a mess of unkempt curls, his Iron Man pajamas were sleep-wrinkled, but his eyes were bright and the look in them was earnest.
"I'm sorry, but I can't just give you a baby," Steve said, frowning as his conscience prickled at the thought that there were ways that he could actually procure a baby for Danny if he really wanted to. His gut twisted guiltily as he avoided thinking about how he'd become Danny's 'daddy' in the first place.
"Besides, you're too young to have a baby. Babies are for adults, like Uncle Chin and Auntie Malia," Steve said, proud of himself for having come up with something that was fairly coherent.
Danny rolled his eyes and gave him an exasperated look. "I know that, Daddy," he said, voice incredulous, hands waving to illustrate what he was saying as he spoke. "Only grownups can make babies. You're a grownup. You can make babies, like Uncle Chin and Auntie Malia made baby Mahealani. She's pretty, and I like to hold her sometimes, even if she is small and cries a lot, and makes funny baby faces, and smelly doo-doo diapers."
Blinking at all of the 'facts' that Danny was laying out for him, and trying, in vain, to think of something to say that would dissuade Danny from his quest to have Steve 'give him a baby', Steve opened his mouth and closed it. He had nothing, and his mind felt like he'd been put through some kind of mental ping pong match.
Wrapping an arm around Danny's shoulders, Steve pulled him closer to his side. "Why do you want a baby?" he asked, hoping that Danny's answer would help him get to the bottom of whatever it was that Danny really wanted. He couldn't really want a baby, could he?
"Kento wants one, too," Danny said. "You can put a baby inside of Kento's mom, just like Uncle Chin put a baby inside of Auntie Malia, and she can..." Danny's face scrunched up in thought as he searched for the appropriate word, "bake the baby for you," Danny said, smiling clearly proud of himself.
"And then Kento and me can share the baby," Danny said, voice triumphant.
"Let me get this straight," Steve said, still confused. "You want me to give you a baby because Kento wants a baby?"
Danny shook his head. He gave Steve a wounded look. "No, Daddy, I want you to make a baby with Kento's mom, so that Kento and me can have a baby sister."
"Do you want me to marry Kento's mom?" Steve asked. He felt like he was swimming against the tide.
Danny heaved an unhappy sigh, and shook his head. He sucked his bottom lip between his teeth, and looked at Steve through his eyelashes. Disappointment in Steve's ability to comprehend something that he evidently thought was perfectly simple was apparent in the sag of his shoulders.
"No," Danny said, eyes turned downward, fingers idly running through Stormy's fur. "I want a baby sister, not a new mom."
Steve drew in a sharp breath, and settled back against the headboard. Danny fell against his side, upsetting the cat as he rested his head on Steve's chest. Stormy renegotiated his position on the bed beside Steve and Danny, arched his back and curled up into a ball, tail tucked underneath his chin.
"Why do you want a baby sister?" Steve asked, rubbing Danny's back.
Danny shrugged. "Just do," he said.
"You know that you can visit Mahealani anytime you want to, right?" Steve asked.
Danny nodded. "I know," he said, a sleepy edge to his voice. "'S not the same."
"What's not the same?" Steve asked, voice gentle as he massages Danny's scalp.
"Being a cousin's not the same as being a big brother," Danny said, voice far more subdued than it had been earlier.
"I'm sure that Uncle Chin and Aunt Malia would be proud to have you be Mahealani's big brother," Steve said.
"Really?" Danny asked, voice hopeful.
Smiling down at the blonde head of messy curls, Steve pressed a kiss to them. "I'm sure of it. How about if we ask them about it later today, after we've slept a little longer and had breakfast?"
Danny nodded, and Steve could feel his body relaxing as he started to fall back to sleep. "Do you think they can make another baby?" he asked, yawning.
"Maybe someday," Steve said, wondering why Danny was so determined to have another baby in his life. "But right now Mahealani takes up a lot of their time, and they want to shower as much love on her as they can."
"I can shower love on her, too," Danny said, words coming out softer as he started waning. "Like I was gonna shower love on the baby my mommy was baking in her tummy."
Steve's heart jumped to his throat and he swallowed against the sudden lump, throat dry. "You'll be an awesome big brother," he said, combing his fingers through Danny's hair.
"When Uncle Chin and Aunt Malia have a new baby, can we call her, Irene?" he asked, voice muffled by Steve's shirt.
"Irene?" Steve asked. He'd never heard Danny mention that name before.
Nodding, Danny smacked his lips and gripped Steve's sleep shirt with the hand that wasn't resting on Stormy. "She was my pre-school teacher," Danny said. "She gave me cookies and milk, and sang and read stories to me. She was nice."
Chuckling quietly, Steve said, "That's a long way off, Danny."
"But can we?" Danny asked, determined to get an answer and fighting sleep until he got one.
"You'll have to ask your Aunt and Uncle," Steve said.
Sighing, Danny finally let go and allowed sleep to pull him under, breath evening out into a quiet, gentle snore. Stifling a yawn, Steve made himself as comfortable as he could with a boy draped half across him, a cat curled up at his side, and a dog that had migrated to once again lie on his feet, and allowed sleep to claim him as well. He dreamed of dark haired little girls who ran around his lanai, called Danny, brother, and shouted and laughed in play as they splashed in the ocean.