Dating

I wrote this story as part of a McDanno gift exchange on Tumblr. Enjoy it!

"Uncle Steve. I need your help" the boy's words were rushed as he raced through the team's headquarters. The Commander raised his head from the files he was working on and saw Charlie standing in the doorway of his office.

"Are you looking for Danno?"

"No. I need your help getting on the Internet."

"Well... what site are you wanting to go to?" Steve asked surprised and confused by the young boy's request.

"eHarmony dot com." Charlie smiled proudly as he said this.

Steve was so shocked, he couldn't help but let out a laugh. Immediately, the boy's sunny smile faded. He looked upset, and Steve regretted how he had made him frown. "I'm sorry, buddy," the Commander said "It's just… What? Why? Why do you need to get on a dating website?"

"It's for Danno, I think he's lonely and needs a girlfriend. And I heard Miss Miller, my teacher, telling Mrs. Harris that she was thinking about going on eHarmony dot com because she's really lonely too." Charlie fiddled with the straps of his bag as he spoke, explaining his peculiar request "I asked Miss Miller what it was and she said that it's for people to meet other people, but you have to say what you like to do and other things about yourself - so I wrote this"

Charlie dropped his blue backpack to the ground and started digging through it for a crumpled sheet of loose-leaf paper which - when he found it - he thrust triumphantly in the air. "Here it is!" he exclaimed excitedly "I wrote this during free time!" The boy smiled very proudly as he stood and smoothed it out against the clear top of the desk. "These are all the things I want Danno's new girlfriend to know about him."

Steve read through the boy's messy handwriting as best he could, smiling proudly down at the list.

"Danny is a nice person.

Danny is very funny and I love my Dad a lot!

I'm 7 years old and my name is Charlie. I have a sister, her name his Grace.

He is very old. Danny is 40 years old. He doesn't look like he is too old so don't worry.

Danny is a police detective and sometimes I can ride in his police car and it is awesome! I like his car a lot.

Danny's new girlfriend has to:

Be somebody nice!"

When Steve was done he lifted his head to look at Charlie over the desk, but before he could respond, the excited boy interrupted him.

"Look!" the boy flipped the paper over "I don't know if his new girlfriend needs to know what he looks like, but I drew a picture of Danno."

Steve blinked at the picture. Charlie had drawn Danny as a really tall man with muscled arms and an… eight pack? Each chiseled dent of his abdomen looked like an oval stacked on top of the next one and he also had large pecs. Steve flushed slightly.

Charlie watched the Commander react to the picture, before the boy said: "So will you help me get online, please?"

The picture of Danny smiled up at Steve - his mouth a red 'U', his eyes blue dots, no nose, and short little spikes of yellow hair. Charlie shifted impatiently from foot to foot.

From the beginning of their awkward dating relationship, Danny had wanted to tell Charlie the truth. It was Steve that held back. Looking down at the personal ad Charlie had crafted - personal ad designed to get Danny a girlfriend - Steve thought he'd make the right decision in asking Danny not to tell him.

"Um… Charlie, buddy. It's really late… and your Mum's surely waiting outside.

The boy's eyes went wide and he slapped his forehead comically. "Oh my gosh, I totally forgot!" He grabbed his bag off the floor, not even bothering to zip it up. "So, can we get on the Internet tomorrow?" He charged toward the door, only remembering at the last minute to cry out: "Please?"

After Charlie had gone, Steve sat unmoving in his chair. He wasn't worried about coming out to Charlie for himself; he was worried for Danny. The little boy was his world and he adored his Dad. Steve want to be the reason the loving look in Charlie's eyes changed. He and Danny needed to talk.

ooOoo

"Can I talk to you about something, Danno?" Grace asked cheekily that evening while eating dinner. Charlie's face fell.

"Sure monkey, What's up?"

"No!" Charlie cried almost frantically. "I… I'm sorry. I'll tell you the truth!" Grace looked grumpy and let a little sigh escape her lips. It wasn't the first time her little brother had gotten in trouble.

"What's going on?" Danny asked worried. there was a pause as Charlie attempted to avoid explaining.

"Well, one of you'd better start telling it."

"Charlie and Uncle Steve-" Grace started but Charlie quickly interrupted her.

"I went to Uncle Steve today because I needed to get on the Internet, I knew he could help me and I asked him if he'd help me get onto a website and he said yes and we're going to get on the website tomorrow. And I wasn't going to tell because it was going to be a surprise and then I accidently told Gracie and I really, really, really wish I hadn't" Charlie declared all in one breath.

"What website?" Charlie was silent, his eyes wide, his bottom lip trembling. "What website?" Danny turned to Grace.

"Some dating site."

"Charlie?" Danny asked levelly. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

The boy shook his head quickly, and tears starting to fall. "I'm… I'm… sorry!" Charlie's chair squeaked as he rushed to get off it and bolted for his bedroom.

"This has got to be a joke." Danny sighed, his head falling into his hands.

"You should talk to Uncle Steve, Dad," Grace responded sympathetically because she already knows about their relationship.

ooOoo

"You and I need to have a talk in your office."

They'd barely gotten a step through the door when Danny grabbed Steve around the waist and swept him into a deep kiss. The Commander wrapped his arms around Danny's neck and snuggled into him tightly. Steve turned, thrusting his hip just a little bit and reveled in the feeling of Danny slipping his hand inside his pocket. The Commander closed his eyes, wishing Danny would dig deeper. Instead, Danny plucked the note Charlie had written from the pocket of Steve's cargo pants.

Steve hung onto Danny as he read it. Danny snorted at something he read on the page, shaking his head. Looking up at Steve he brushed the pad of his thumb over the Commander's lips, following the gesture with a lingering kiss.

"So…" Danny teased, lightly shaking the piece of paper. "You worried my little boy's going to hook me up with some woman on the Internet?"

"Maybe," Steve admitted.

"Would you say that you're worried enough about it, so that I can finally introduce you to Charlie as my boyfriend?"

Steve rolled his eyes but flashed Danny a smile that would have melted ice. "Okay. Tell Charlie about us."

ooOoo

"What if I told you I am seeing someone?" Danny said as he cuddled with Charlie in bed.

The boy's eyes went wide as saucers and he hugged himself with dramatic expectation. "Do you have a girlfriend, Danno?"

"No. But… I'm dating someone."

"Oh my gosh…" Charlie whispered. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Who is it? Does she have blonde hair? Do you think she'll like me and Gracie? Are you bringing her over here? Is she-?" Usually Charlie ran out of questions after a minute, but the boy was so wound up about his Dad's mystery date that he simply started over, repeating questions he'd already asked. He hardly breathed as he charged through the list again. "I bet she has blonde hair! Does she have blonde hair?"

"Nope," Danny finally cut in, ready to reveal everything. "He has dark brown hair." Danny waited for his son to process the fact that he was dating a man.

Charlie stared at him, cocking his head just a little, his brow furrowed in thought and then he said: "I like blonde hair."

And that was it. Danny liked both girls and boys and Charlie wasn't at all concerned about it, expect that he'd envisioned a blonde for his Dad. Danny snorted.

"What is his name?" the boy asked.

"Actually, it's Uncle Steve."

Charlie thought about this for a long time and then, too smart for his own good, he said, "I guess it's really bad that I asked him to help you find a girlfriend, huh?"

"Yeah… but I think he's getting over it, buddy."

"So… I can come along on a date?" Charlie asked, smiling mischievously

"No."

"Why not? Are you going to kiss?"

"I don't know."

"Then why can't I come?"

"Because it's a grown-up date."

"Why?"

"Because Uncle Steve's a grown-up and I'm a grown-up."

That almost got him. Almost. But then he hit back hard. "But if I don't come, how will I know if Uncle Steve really, really loves you or not?"

To be continued... maybe