I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Notes: the ever-elusive ending ... and a very squishy ending at that. But it was always meant to be holiday "fluff". If anyone is interested, the idea for this is directly from a real viral video which is now on Youtube. Just search: Army Dad Hides in Christmas Gift Box to Surprise Son. To me, that had Steve written all over it.

My thanks to Phoebe for the help and support to get here! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

PS - a small bit of Fanart was added to Chapter 6 over on A03.

H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O

Steve hovered over the turkey he was expected to carve and serve. He changed out his choice of a carving knife three times and now he was using the smallest he had from the carving block. Yet, he still hesitated.

"So what did you have to do? Strike a deal with the devil so you could come home?" Danny whispered the words teasingly into Steve's ear as tried to figure out which way to carve up the smallish-turkey Danny had ordered ... yes, ordered ... from a gourmet caterer.

"Me? You bought a ready-made bird," Steve griped back, disgust showing on his face. He used the carving knife to point to what he considered a very sad excuse for a Christmas supper. "From a store. It had to be warmed up in the oven ... it's going to taste like dried dust. What the hell's wrong with you? Who does something like this?"

He aimed a horrified look at the covered tins holding mashed potatoes, green beans, a reddish-jellied thing which he didn't even want to know about, and what might be a brownish gravy. Their see-through lids were misty from sweat since he'd pulled them from the refrigerator, making them look even less appealing.

"I don't want to know what you were thinking ... what is all this stuff? We even got real turkey in the mess hall when we were deployed! Geez, MRE's are better ..."

"MRE's? What?! Do you know how much this set me back? I ordered this spread from a caterer! A very good caterer! Besides, you're lucky there's anything here at all," Danny said peevishly. He waved his hands back towards the lanai where his kids were. "Because if it weren't for them, I'd probably be ..."

"... at the office," Steve finished the sentence for him. His expression smug when Danny looked at him in surprise. "Yeah I know! Grace told me. Again, I repeat ... what the hell's wrong with you?" This time the comment was laced with annoyance for where Danny'd chosen to spend the large majority of his time.

"So? I was bored," Danny said probably more defensively than he'd intended because bored really meant worried out of his mind and he knew that Steve knew that. "You weren't here; Rachel had the kids. What else was I supposed to do? Sit around here and watch four walls or binge watch some God-awful Hallmark special on TV?"

Sighing loudly, Steve made a face before shaking his head. There was no right answer. The timing of everything had honestly just been bad. He opened his mouth to saying something else about Danny having worked though and then decided not to go down that particular road. They were both tired, a little slap-happy, and their usual banter could easily - and very accidentally - tip over to the wrong side of funny.

"Well, for one, maybe you could have at least gone out and bought a real turkey?" Steve teased with a much lighter tone. He gave a dramatic almost petulant sniff while sticking out his bottom lip. "Look at it. I almost feel bad for the poor little thing. We'll be lucky if we can feed Charlie, let alone the four of us. I think it shrunk in the oven."

"Oh come on! It's not that bad!" Danny insisted. "I ran out of time ..."

"It's a baby chicken, Danny!" Steve interrupted with a chuckle. "The teeniest, tiniest ... itty bitty ...pigeon .. and where's the stuffing? It's not in here." Steve poked at the bird, making a show of looking high and low for the anticipated home-made stuffing. "Oh I know! There isn't any because there's no room for it in this tiny little baby bird! Don't you dare tell me it's in one of those take-out container things."

"Pigeon!? Oh my God. Stop! It's not that bad!" Danny exclaimed, smiling now as he stood on tiptoe to rest his chin on Steve's shoulder to monitor his progress ... and then promptly grimaced. He pushed off Steve's hips with both hands.

"Now what?" Steve asked turning around and pointing the tip of the carving knife at Danny's chest. "Is this you, changing the subject?"

"No. Not really. They forgot the stuffing," Danny moaned. "They seriously forgot the stuffing? That's it; I'm done. Let's go out ... downtown has to have a place without reservations ... an available buffet or dinner ..."

"A restaurant? With the kids?" Steve asked. "They'd hate that - Charlie would hate that. Hell, I would hate that, too... dressing up. Too formal. Plus, it's going to be so crowded." He frowned in thought and then raised his eyebrows. "I have a better idea. How about a few days away? Huh? Let's make Christmas really special ... Alohilani Resort? A long weekend? You've got the kids through New Year's, Danno... it's clear sailing...there's things for all of us to do there ... room service ...yeah?"

"It's already special," Danny said with a smile all for Steve's benefit. "I don't know ... the Alohilani?" He paused to consider the suggestion, his grin growing as he looked from Steve to the turkey and then back again. Nonetheless, he seemed unconvinced and not entirely ready to commit.

"Come on, Danno. They forgot the stuffing," Steve prodded a bit harder, his own expression nothing but mischievous. "Let's just do it; let's indulge a little. Why not?"

"Indulge?" The smile which lit up Danny's face was radiant when Steve coyly mouthed the word. Using his thumb and forefinger to compound that little bit of indulgence which he had in mind. "Okay. Yeah, why not. Say no more ... they'll love it."

H5O* H5O

"Best Christmas ever." Eyes glassy from fatigue, Danny yawned around a smile as he wandered into their suite's living room from the galley kitchen with two glasses of water. "My teenage daughter who can be the most critical young female creature on earth said that about ten times. Must be a world record."

Steve chortled a happy sound before copying Danny's overly large yawn. He knew his eyes were just as glassy and likely even red-rimmed. He couldn't remember how long he'd been on his feet, but it had been a long time. Every single moment had been well worth it though.

"Water?" He asked, knowing that anything more for either of them would have been a waste.

"Water," Danny concurred as he cheerfully clinked the rim of his glass to Steve's.

"They're both in bed?" Steve asked, surprised when Danny nodded. "It's early ... "

"They're wiped out from the best Christmas ever," Danny repeated. "I think we'd all agree about that." He laughed then, pointing to the glass coffee table and the three cell phones, side by side. "Another first. My teenage daughter went to bed - wait, no. No, this is bigger. She left behind - she forgot about that damned phone. It's a miracle."

"Charlie was so happy," Steve said as they sat on the large couch together. Feet up, side by side, they squirreled down even more, shoulder to shoulder.

"His father was ... is ... happy," Danny added quietly. "I still can't believe you're here and that ... we're here." He motioned around the large suite. "There's no words at all for any of this. This is the best Christmas ever. Hands down. Bar none."

Steve grinned into his water glass while thumbing on the TV, but he kept the volume muted. He'd queued up Diehard, their traditional holiday movie even if on that Christmas Day, they probably weren't committed to watching it. Next to hm, he felt Danny slouch down lower. He evidently didn't care either way. Danny's comfortable sigh communicated ambivalence to just about everything except sitting next to him. Steve grinned doing the same to get more comfortable in the deep cushions of the couch.

This was enough for both of them indeed because if Steve dared do the math, he still would have been in Korea and waiting on that transport.

"Do you realize, I wouldn't have been home yet?" Steve had to voice it. That fact continued to be mind-boggling to him in every way imaginable.

"I do," Danny murmured definitively. He nudged into Steve's shoulder, the warmth of his lean becoming more pronounced with every passing second, his water glass nearly tipped to a dangerous angle. "And ... we're just going to say thank you because you're not there. You're here and ... you've given my son another solid year of believing in Santa Claus and miracles."

"I also saved him and your daughter from your gourmet dinner ..." Steve chuckled at Danny's indignant moan. He leaned over to awkwardly kiss the top of Danny's head while rescuing both their glasses to the coffee table. "This was by far the better deal."

"Well, I'm not arguing that at all," Danny admitted with a satisfied rub to his stomach. "This was clearly the better idea. The Alohilani knows how to do Christmas right. I think this could be another new tradition? This very suite ... booked next year ... same plan ..."

"... same box and bows?" Steve added with an attempt at a fiendish wink which unfortunately didn't go over as he'd intended. He snortled ingloriously when Danny made a weird sound in his throat. Unable to stop, Steve's attempt to muffle an honest to goodness giggle, dissolved into an over-tired bout of laughter. It bubbled up inside his chest and he couldn't hold it in. But then it only grew larger when Danny caught the same bug and joined him. Shoulders shaking and tears sparkling in their eyes, they laughed and choked, vainly trying to shush each other.

"Stop," Danny begged as he helplessly wiped tears from his eyes. "I can't ... but in all seriousness ... yes! Making new family traditions is important ... very, very important."

"All right then." Steve giggled and then groaned, clutching dramatically at his aching stomach, too. "A new tradition it is!" He agreed as their hysterical laughter finally died down to something more manageable. "I'll book us in next year, first thing tomorrow."

"Oh and Steve? The same letter too," Danny said, sobering a bit though his smile stayed huge. He pointed to the letter in question which was on the coffee table. They'd reread it multiple times together; the green crayon-ed 'letter' which Charlie had printed so very carefully in a fat scrawl. Inclusive of colorful Christmas stickers of reindeer and elves. Steve had tucked the precious paper into his luggage at the last minute, loathe to leave it behind at the house much to Charlie's delight, too. But Steve couldn't get enough of it. Even now, knowing what it said word for word, his breath still caught in his throat and the spark of a very different emotion twisted his stomach into warm knots.

If Steve hadn't been able to get Charlie's face out of his mind, then Charlie had been similarly pining over him. He knew the letter by heart and had been surprised that Danny hadn't even known about it. Only Grace. Charlie had only confided in his big sister, begging her to mail it to Santa Claus even if he'd already mailed one earlier that month. According to Grace, Charlie had been near tears wondering if Santa would care or listen or do anything at all because he'd already sent a letter asking for toys he now didn't want.

Deer Santa, its Charlie again. I am riting to you for help. Can u bring Unckel Steve home from Krea? Pleez send my toys to anuter kid. I don wnat them any more. If Unckel Steve came home Danno and Grace wold be happy to. Love, Charlie Williams.

Simply put: Steve loved Danny's kids, so much so, that it physically hurt.

"Damn straight same letter ... I'm keeping it ... maybe I'll frame it," Steve shared quietly. Then he paused before adding more to what he was really feeling. "I love your kids, Danno."

Danny snuggled in closer to him without saying anything. He turned just enough to tuck himself against Steve's side, his head propped up by Steve's shoulder, his arm slung over Steve's stomach. The peace in his eyes was compounded by the wisps of a very happy smile. Utterly content and feeling that very same peacefulness, Steve draped his arm over Danny's side. He pulled Danny closer, thumbed the tv off, and closed his eyes.

~ End. ~