Disclaimer: I own nothing like always.
Author's Note: Thank you for all reviews and such it always makes me happy. I'm sorry for the delay in this chapter but spring break's right around the corner so things are little crazy.
As if Steve needed anymore confirmation that he and Danny are the forever kind of deal, he gets a resurgence of his feelings of marriage when Danny wakes up horribly congested and hacking up his right lung. "In sickness and health." Steve mutters to himself as he gets out of bed forgoing his normal exercise routine and instead searching the house top to bottom for Kleenex, cough medicine, and some coffee for both him and Danny.
Of course, they have none of the above besides coffee because they have a back up for their back up (an un-caffeinated Danny is not a Danny that Steve ever wants to deal with again, that was pretty scary.) Of course they don't have Kleenex or cough medicine because it's very seldom that they get sick so Steve finds himself getting in the truck after propping Danny up and settling him with warm coffee to soothe his aching throat and maybe clear his congestion, driving off to the closet store and stocking up on cold supplies.
He also ends up taking the day off because Danny's feeling affectionate and says the only thing that will make him feel better would be to spend the day cuddled up with Steve. So Steve spends his day reading over case reports and budget spreadsheets while Danny lay dead to the world on his shoulder and Steve wouldn't have it any other way. That doesn't mean that Steve isn't happy when Danny wakes up abruptly in the afternoon sputtering about having to pick up Grace. Steve kisses Danny's forehead and pushes him back into bed.
"I'll go pick up Grace and take her out to dinner and help her do her homework, I'll let her read you a story later." Danny mutters in agreement only half awake before Steve leaves smiling at just how adorable Danny is when he's sick. As Steve's driving to pick up his adorable Gracie he smiles in satisfaction to himself, this was the perfect opportunity to see how Grace would feel if he and Danny were married. For the first time in his life, Steve is actually happy that Danny got sick because he really needs to get moving on this plan, their two year anniversary is coming up and Steve thinks that it would be the perfect time to propose, let's just hope that Grace likes the idea of Steve and Danny being married.
Pulling up to the school Steve can't help but smile when he sees Grace making her way out of the school. "Hey Gracie!" Steve exclaims crouching so that he can catch the little girl as she flings herself into his arms.
"Uncle Steve!" Grace exclaims hugging Steve tightly to her body. "Where's Danno?" She asks pulling away and looking for her father.
"Danno caught a horrible cold so he's at home sleeping, so I thought you and I would get some dinner and maybe stop by the bookstore and get a book we can read Danno later. Does that sound good?" Grace smiles and nods her head already thinking of all the different books they could get to help Danno feel better. "I'm thinking we get some pizza."
"Pizza sounds good." Steve smiled and grabbed Grace's backpack from her as he lifted the seat of the Camaro so she could climb in. As they drove to the pizza place Grace told Steve everything that had happened that week in school never letting a moment of silence pass in the car. She continued talking as they were seated at Kailua Round Table and even as they ordered. Finally after the waitress left smiling and laughing at how cute Grace and her father were, a silence fell between the two. "Uncle Steve?" Grace asked looking a little unsure.
"Yeah Grace?" Steve asked taking a sip of his drink and looking down concerned at the little girl.
"When are you and Danno going to get married?" She asked biting her bottom lip worried about how he was going to react.
"Why do you ask Gracie?" Steve reached out and lightly rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand hoping it would help her calm down a little bit. He was worried about how unsure and almost scared she looked at the moment.
"Well Tommy said that it's weird that you and Danno live together and aren't married. He said it was a sin or something." Grace almost had tears in her eyes as she thought back to when Tommy had made fun of her and her 'sinning father'.
"Oh Gracie, it's okay baby I'm not mad." Steve quickly moved from his side of the booth and pulled Gracie into his lap holding her close to him. "Tommy was just being mean to you. Do you think it's weird that Danno and I aren't married?" Steve asked his heart suddenly in his throat waiting for Grace's answer.
"Not really, I mean you guys are happy right? It would be cool if you guys were married." Grace replied smiling softly at Steve, who was listening very closely to everything Grace said. She knew that Steve would actually listen to her and value her opinion on things, it's one of the reasons she enjoyed talking to Steve.
"So you wouldn't mind if I asked Danno to marry me?" Steve asked running his fingers through her hair sighing in relief when her tense body seemed to relax and she pulled away from him. Steve took that as his cue to go back to his side and waited for her answer. Grace tilted her head to the side deep in thought. Her daddy and Steve had been together for a long time and she didn't really see how them being married like mommy and Stan, would change anything.
"I think it would be cool. I mean you and Danno are perfect for each other, like Ariel and Eric from The Little Mermaid." She replied smiling brightly at Steve from across the booth. "Are you going to ask Danno to marry you?" Steve laughed at how fast her mood seemed to change and took a deep breath.
"Yeah I've been thinking about asking him."
"Yay! Does that mean I get to call you daddy?" Steve's heart stopped at her question and felt like all the air had been sucked from his lungs. Never in the two years that he and Danno been together had she expressed wanting to call him daddy, it was surreal experience.
"You can call me whatever you want Gracie." Grace beamed and nodded.
"Have you gotten the ring yet? Because if you haven't can I help you pick it out? I think I could help pick out the best ring for Danno." Grace was bouncing in her seat from the excitement of possibly being able to help Steve do something so important. Steve laughed as the waitress brought their pizza to them and thought about it for a moment. It would probably mean a lot to Danny if he found out that his daughter had helped pick out the ring, it would also be an important bonding moment for Grace and Steve.
"I would love it if you helped me pick out the ring. But we have to keep this a secret because I want to surprise Danno. Can you keep this a secret for me?" Grace nodded her head so fast that Steve was worried about her getting whiplash.
"I won't tell anyone daddy, I promise." Steve smiled as she zipped her lips shut and threw away the key.
"Alright eat up, we've got a sick Danno to look after." Grace nodded again and Steve relaxed in his seat. Grace was on board with this idea so the next step was to actually start planning the surprise. He was hit with how real this was becoming, before it was just a plan a far off dream, but with each completed item on his list the reality became clearer. He only hoped that everything worked out and Danny said yes.
A/N 2: Well there it is, let me know what you thought about this chapter. I want to let you know that next chapter won't until at least Friday or Saturday, because this week I'll be busy studying and cramming for midterms on Thursday. I promise to have the rest of the story posted by next week. Thank you again for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
