I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.
Notes: sorry for the massive stall. The muse has fled the building it seems.
H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O
Charlie held his arms out wide, thrilled not only to finally see his father, but to be sharing something so exciting.
"The fire was this big! And there was a fire truck … and so much smoke!" Charlie was half-perched on Danny's knee after giving him a huge hug and launching into the biggest explanation about the shed fire Danny had ever heard. "But Uncle Steve said the special car was okay and we're gonna get a new shed."
"Fire? We had a fire?" It was out of his mouth before he had a chance to think and stop it and Danny winced when he heard the soft curse from off to the side. Steve was there of course, helping Grace settle the boys down now that she'd driven them all back to the hospital for a short visit. They were so excited to finally see him though, getting a word in edgewise was impossible.
"Fire? Where … the shed? What …what fire?" Danno repeated the question and then blinked, stunned as Charlie nodded like a crazed bobble-head doll.
"Charlie!" Steve called out but Charlie was on a roll. He'd squirmed off his father's lap now and was practically on his tippy toes.
"Ginormous!" He bounced in the air and made an even grander arc with his ams. "Huge!"
"It was so big! Fire trucks and everything!" Charlie oozed excitement but Steve was flashing Danny an odd look. An expression that made Danny do a double-take and he frowned because this was concerning. Apparently Danny had known about the fire at one time or another. Right then though, Danny was drawing a complete and absolute blank on that particular memory.
'Big fire!' C.J. agreed, not using proper sign language at all but opting to copy Charlie's tippy-toes, half jump in the room while wiggling his fingers up and down like small flames. The finger sign for fire truck followed, so exuberant that C.J. nearly knocked Charlie in the face with his fist.
"C.J!" Steve was exasperated as he tried to intercept both kids while Grace just stood there, arms crossed, smiling. Hampered by the sling, Steve was no match for the two hyper boys and Danny had to laugh. Grace wasn't making a move to help her uncle as a type of penance for having gone swimming against doctor's orders.
"Charlie, C.J. slow down," Grace finally helped to rein them in. "Start at the beginning! Dad, it's fine." She added for her father's sake as her little brother ignored her only to pick up steam.
"A tractor had to come and smash it up. But Uncle Steve said the special car was okay and we're gonna get a new shed," Charlie added.
"Boys!" Steve groaned out the mild reprimand as the two bumped off each other, giggling loudly.
"They're fine," Danny chuckled at Steve's one-armed dilemma and despite his confusion about not being able to remember that event. "Is the car really okay?" It dawned on him then that the old Marquis was likely destroyed if the fire was as big as Charlie made it out to be.
Steve made a face and then sighed in defeat. "Yes and no. It's a little smokey and … wet. We need a new shed."
Danny made a displeased noise in the back of his throat. He smiled apologetically to his partner. While the shed was a goner, the Marquis at least was salvageable. Though whatever the fire hadn't damaged, then the firemens' hoses had completed. At least the thing was insured.
"Grace? What's up with C.J.?" Danny looked from Steve to his daughter at Steve's confused question. C.J. had gone to his sister's side and was suddenly shyly peeking out at everyone from behind her body.
"C.J. has a surprise for you," Grace explained. "He's been working on it for hours …"
"Hours!" Charlie shouted with a laugh. "For ... ev ... er!"
"Charlie, calm down," Grace scolded lightly and much to Steve's bewilderment and Danny's amusement, the boy did, though he was vibrating with excitement. "But yeah, Charlie and C.J. had been working on a surprise for Danno. They needed some help so I stepped in and well … C.J. has something really special to tell dad."
Danny should have realized what Grace was implying but with his still achy head, he only chuckled from where he was sitting in the hospital room's recliner. The little boy only got clingy and shy like this when he was screwing up his courage to ask for something or make some kind of announcement. This seemed a little different though. Plus, the fact that his son was still giggling softly as if he were in on whatever this surprise was didn't go unnoticed either. All three kids were in cahoots.
Danny smiled as Grace leaned over to get C.J.'s attention. Her long brown hair fell forward to cover part of her face. C.J. couldn't help reaching out to touch it, his fingers gently tangling in a few strands as a way to gain some bravery. C.J. was nervous but gazing up at his sister with all kinds of trust and Danny could just selfishly wallow in the picture they made.
"C.J.?" Grace both said and signed when her little brother looked up at her. "Go ahead … now's the time."
Another something exchanged between all three kids and Danny raised a quizzical eyebrow.
"What's going on?" Danny asked as he glanced at Steve in askance. However, it was equally clear that Steve was in the dark.
"I honestly don't know," Steve said. "I'm in enough trouble as it is."
His teasing look aimed at Grace was met with a not so patient toe-tap which meant she was keeping an eye on him. "What? I haven't taken it off!" Steve said innocently and Danny chuckled as his partner made a face and tried to tuck himself nonchalantly up against the far wall.
"Better not," Grace warned him much to Danny's amusement as Steve wrapped his good arm protectively over his bad. She stopped though, all about C.J. when he tugged at her hand, interrupting the brief discussion.
'Now?' He signed and Grace nodded, her smile back in an instant.
"Now," she confirmed. "Now! Go ahead!"
"C.J. has something to saaaaay," Charlie sing-songed with a giggle, followed by an overly dramatic eye roll. "I wish he'd hurry up. I'm hungry. Can we eat next?"
"Oh my God," Steve muttered into his fist. "Grace what did you feed these guys for breakfast?"
Grace laughed and then shrugged no so apologetically. "Pancakes like dad makes … chocolate chip and banana."
"I missed pancakes?" Steve sniffed sadly. "That's just ... wrong." With a laugh, it was Grace's turn to roll her eyes, but now she was gently piloting C.J. towards Danny.
"Go ahead," she prodded her brother, prompting Danny to hold his arms in encouragement when C.J.'s feet seemed to get stuck and he glanced back up to Grace looking for reassurance.
"Come on. What did you want to tell me?" Danny asked. His smile as shy as ever, C.J. stepped forward. Step by step until he was at Danny's knee and then just standing there looking a bit uncertain.
"C.J?" Danny asked again as C.J's fingers twitched and Danny watched the little hands thinking he had to find something to say to prompt the boy again until Grace breathed out his name and a quiet warning.
"Wait. Dad, give him a chance," she murmured so softly, Danny barely heard the words. "He's been working so hard to get this right."
C.J.'s shoulders moved as he sucked in a big breath of air. He looked over his shoulder to Grace as if he still wasn't sure but she only gave him a thumbs up. He fidgeted again and looked back into Danny's face and opened his mouth, his brow knit in concentration. His fingers on his right hand reflexively seemed to spell his name but, startled, Danny quickly realized what was going on. Eyes wide, Danny leaned forward in astonishment, ignoring the achy pull in his neck, taking the little boy's hands in his own at the very same time C.J. very carefully said his name out loud.
"Dan-no," C.J. voiced proudly until his tiny level of confidence shifted. Nervous, he glanced back over his shoulder once more towards Grace, clearly making sure that he'd gotten it right and she nodded her approval.
"Perfect," she encouraged him. She pointed to Danny. "Say it again, okay? Tell Danno."
"Dan-no." He tapped his chest and took a deep breath. "My Dan-no," C.J. said out loud, getting more brave when Danny planted a proud, teary-eyed kiss on his forehead.
"That's so, so good, buddy," Danny whispered as he gently ran his fingers through C.J.'s brown hair. "What a wonderful get well gift."
Thrilled with himself, C.J. grinned and then pointed towards Grace.
'Grace helped,' C.J. signed fast and then he raised both his hands over his head, fingers wide to pump them twice up in the air while looking at his sister. The finger sign was big and dramatic and Danny chuckled at Grace's confused expression.
"What?" Grace asked. "I got my name … but what's that?"
"He said you were awesome," Steve translated for her as Danny laughed out loud when she blushed. "You are incredibly, absolutely and amazingly awesome."
"He didn't say all that," Grace objected crossly. She cocked her head at Steve and then narrowed her eyes in warning. "Don't try to weasel out of your illegal swim, Uncle Steve."
"Me? I'd never do that," Steve opted for innocence as Danny laughed even harder.
"No. You? Never," Danny drawled sarcastically. "You're the picture of model behavior."
"Poster boy," Steve drawled, his gaze now fond as Danny fought a spike of emotion and tried to nonchalantly swipe at his eyes. Steve knew what he was feeling down to the way his chest was tightening up with all kinds of love for their family.
"Oh you're a poster child alright," Danny corrected him with an evil glint to his eye. "A poster child for what not to behave like."
"Oh come on. You love it and you know it!" Steve waggled a meaningful eyebrow at him. "You love me."
"I don't!" Danny said as he cleared his throat uncomfortably. He glared at his partner with a not now look which made Steve laugh out loud until Grace chimed in, making Steve blush.
"Seriously? Now? You're worse than the two six year olds," Grace interrupted, her eyes large and knowing. Cutting them off before the innuendo could go any further. "Besides we got a date to firm up and I'm not going to let that go."
"Yeah," Steve grinned, his blush deepening as he caught Danny's eye. "We do have a date to firm up. A really special date ... soon."
"We do," Danny concurred, feeling his face grow warm about their pending marriage. Then after, squaring away C.J.'s formal adoption. So really, there would be two very important dates to coordinate and Danny felt that warmth spread to his heart. "Yes ... we sure do."
As Grace controlled a very pleased laugh, Danny turned back towards C.J. who was definitely failing in keeping up as much as Charlie also was. In fact, Charlie was fast growing bored with the adults now that C.J. had done his big reveal and becoming fidgety based on his heavy, repetitive sighing.
"I'm still hungry," Charlie muttered softly. "Starving …gonna starve to pieces." He toed the linoleum floor, bored and antsy.
"You are not," Grace quietly reprimanded him off to the side. Danny heard the soft murmur of conversation with Steve chiming in, but was once more rapt by C.J.'s accomplishments. He smiled as C.J. tapped his chest and took another deep breath.
"Dan-no," C.J. repeated much to Danny's ongoing delight. "My ... Dan-no."
When C.J. had verbally conquered daddy for Steve, Danny had been over the moon. That had been plenty good enough for him and not once had he thought about himself. Not once. But Danny had secretly craved this; he needed it now, and he loved to hear his name, too, spoken from C.J.'s lips.
"That's my boy," he whispered to C.J. as he planted a kiss on the top of his head. "I'm so proud of you."
Beaming, C.J. kissed him back on the cheek and then turned in the circle of Danny's arms to face Steve. With one hand wrapped in Danny's hospital gown, C.J. pointed up towards his father.
"My Daddy … 'n Danno."
"Ah geez," Steve grinned happily as he beamed down at C.J. and bussed an unexpectedly large kiss to the side of Charlie's head much to the boy's dramatic complaining.
"Uncle Steve! No more kisses! Yuck!" Charlie grouched as he scrubbed at his face. With a plea that made them all laugh, he folded his arms across his chest, now scowling in disgust.
"Can we please go eat now?"
~ to be continued ~
