10/17/24: Hello! This is going to be a lighter chapter as well. So enjoy it while it lasts! The main plot hits the next chapter, and it's a doozy. SamXDanny has been pretty accurate in her musings so far (with few exceptions), but I'm fairly certain it's going to throw even her for a loop.

This is a semi short chapter. Sorry! It's mainly just a glimpse into family life before things take off in the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

–

Chapter 11: Bonding

–

It was a bit of a whirlwind after the birth of the twins. Before Sam and Danny knew it, they were home from the hospital and faced with being parents on their own. The rest had promised to come by often to help and both Jazz and Maddie had already prepared frozen crock pot meals to last them two weeks.

Even after three days, Danny was still in awe of his children and just how perfect they were. Sam was as well, of course, but she liked to sit back and simply watch Danny bloom into fatherhood.

Now it was time to introduce the little four pound newborns to a certain collie who was absolutely overjoyed at his favorite people being home after so long.

Thankfully they had anticipated this. Danny was carrying both of the infant carriers and went intangible so when DJ leapt at him, he went through them instead of plowing into the babies.

Once Sam had sufficiently calmed the hyper dog down, Danny phased back in and set the carriers up on the coffee table. Sam carefully unstrapped her son first and gently picked him up. She gave Jackson a moment to stretch, smiling at the action.

"Newborn scrunches are the best," Danny commented, his statement mirroring what Sam had been thinking.

Once he was done, she put him upright against her chest, hand under his bottom. She sat on the couch and leaned down a little, allowing DJ to sniff the newborn's feet.

The collie's tail wagged hard, slapping the leg of the coffee table. He sniffed Jackson through his onesie, moving his little feet around as he did so.

Danny then unstrapped Aurora, also allowing her to stretch before doing the same and letting DJ sniff her thoroughly.

The ghost raised a brow when Sam chuckled. "What?"

"It's just a little odd seeing this big 6 foot 4 ghost holding a 4 pound infant. She looks like a toy doll in your arms," the goth commented affectionately.

Danny smiled. "You aren't wrong." He placed his hand on Aurora's back, his hand stretching from her bum to her head. "She's almost the size of my hand."

Both babies were sleeping peacefully, so they settled on the couch together, each with a baby. They had learned pretty quickly that their son seemed to prefer Sam's warmth, while their daughter preferred her father's coolness. Each would get fidgety and then cry if held too long by the other parent, but both seemed to enjoy interaction regardless of which parent was talking to them.

It made Danny wonder if his son was truly half ghost, but only time would tell.

Sam was on one end of the couch, Danny on the other, their twins on their chests. DJ tentatively crawled up onto the center part of the couch and sat there, staring at Jackson on Sam's chest with his head tilted and ears perked. Finally he reached forward and sniffed some more, Sam batting him away when he sniffed Jackson's head, causing the infant to squirm a bit.

The collie pulled back, head tilting the other way before he settled down, head resting on the other side of Sam's chest, still watching Jackson.

Danny watched the whole thing with a smile on his face, feeling like DJ was basically him in dog form, simply in awe of these tiny humans.

–

A few days later, the pair were a little sleep deprived, but thankfully, as a full ghost, Danny didn't require as much sleep as Sam. Because of that, he primarily took the night shift, for everything except feeding. And even then, he would get the twins and bring them to her so she didn't need to get up.

They'd begun to settle into a routine with them, and they were so in sync that it cemented in their minds how much they were made for each other.

Sam was getting them lunch ready. She had carefully tied her hair up, as she'd let it grow after finding Danny and throughout the pregnancy. Her raven colored locks now reached her mid back.

Aurora was currently sleeping, and Danny was changing Jackson.

The goth was finishing up the last sandwich, putting the last piece of ham on one, when she heard Danny come running down the hall.

"Poop emergency!" he yelled, walking quickly past the kitchen with Jackson held out in front of him, the infant's bottom and back covered in poop.

Sam couldn't help the laugh that escaped her at the scene, before she followed him to the bathroom. He moved to the side when she entered and she started the water, making sure it was the proper temperature before Danny sat next to the tub and gently held Jackson above the little infant cradle in the tub.

Sam grabbed the wand and ran the water over her son's back and bum, getting everything off before Danny settled him into the cradle for a bath.

The new father sighed in relief. "The changing station is going to need to be wiped, and I'll throw his onesie into the washer when we're done. Nothing like a blowout."

The goth smiled. "It happens." She helped him bathe their son, knowing Danny's super hearing was keeping tabs on Aurora.

Finally done, they wrapped him up in his infant towel to keep him warm, which definitely was his preference.

Sam took him then, and indicated towards the kitchen with her head. "You go ahead and eat your sandwich. I'll get him down and then we can worry about cleanup."

The ghost gave her a soft smile and a kiss on the cheek, following her out of the bathroom. He nearly bumped into her when she stopped abruptly. "DJ!" she whisper-yelled to avoid scaring her son.

The collie had taken advantage of their absence from the kitchen and had stolen both sandwiches, quickly scarfing down the last one at Sam's admonishment. The goth sighed as DJ then took off down the hallway and into their bedroom, no doubt to hide under the bed.

Then she heard a certain ghost chuckling behind her. She turned with a raised brow. "What's so funny? That was the last of our bread!"

The look Danny gave her was so full of love that it made her blush. "It's just mundane family life. This is something I never thought I'd get, so I want to cherish it all, even the mayhem."

That statement gave her pause and a new appreciation for her situation. He was right, this was not something they expected to have, especially when he'd died. Wanted? Absolutely, but not expected.

She had also been right about Danny seemingly coming out of the funk he'd been in for months. The constant care that twins required left him little room to truly think about anything else, and tired enough at the end of the day that he didn't even dream when he slept. Not to mention the love he held for them and their mother was completely in the forefront of his mind.

She kissed him then, before heading off down the hall towards the nursery. "This means you can figure out a substitute lunch! I need to eat so I can feed them."

He grinned as she walked away. "Pizza it is!"

–

Another few days went by and Jazz, Tucker, Chase and Vlad were visiting. It was the first time Chase met his cousins, and the 21 month old was fascinated by the tiny babies.

Danny was holding Aurora on the couch, letting the toddler sit next to him. Chase watched the little infant squirm around a bit to find a more comfortable position. When she settled, eyes looking up at her father, Chase tentatively reached over and gently touched her arm with one finger, bringing it back like he'd been stung.

When nothing happened, he smiled, reaching out and doing it again, this time giggling. He observed as Danny patted Aurora on the back, before the toddler reached over and gently did the same.

Danny smiled at his nephew. "You're being very good with her," he praised Chase.

Sam, meanwhile, had passed Jackson to Vlad. Vlad's core generated hot energy, making him much warmer to the touch than Danny, meaning Jackson didn't wiggle or squirm to get away.

Aurora, on the other hand, simply seemed to prefer feeling cooler, and generally didn't tolerate being held by anyone but Danny for very long.

Vlad bounced a little, smiling at his Godson. The little baby was staring up at him, his amethyst eyes roaming over the unfamiliar face. He wasn't scared at all by the billionaire's more ghostly features, and simply watched the man, occasionally making little noises.

"Oh!" Danny exclaimed, causing everyone to look at him. His daughter had spit up on him. He stood going over to Sam. "Can you take her for a sec while I get a new shirt?"

She nodded and took Aurora, Danny darting off towards the bedroom. The infant, who was already a bit agitated from spitting up, started to make noises that indicated she wasn't terribly happy at being in Sam's arms.

"Do you want me to take her?" Jazz asked when her niece began to fuss more loudly.

Sam shook her head. "It doesn't matter who holds her, she's unhappy unless it's Danny."

As Danny was on his way back with a fresh shirt on, he felt something, a little sensation in the back of his mind, before his ghost sense triggered. This time, it wasn't the warped sense of the artificial half ghosts, but a true signature. That other feeling in the back of his mind, though, was new, and it grew in intensity.

He concentrated on the signature, eyes suddenly finding Aurora. He realized instantly that it was her signature he was picking up and watched in horror as she went intangible to escape Sam's warmth.

The goth screamed when she felt her daughter's weight disappear. Danny, thankfully, was quick, and teleported to them, phasing out himself, and catching Aurora before she could fall more than a foot.

Danny phased back in, holding the infant in shock, his look mirroring everyone else's.

"Oh, my God," Sam said, clearly in a panic. "I can't even hold my children!"

Tucker pulled her into a hug as she started to cry, Danny's sad and worried eyes on her.

"How did you know she was going to do that?" his sister asked.

Her brother calmed the infant, which didn't take long now that she was in his arms. "My ghost sense went off. And there was this…strange feeling in my head. No idea what that was, but my sense pointed to her. I saw the moment she went intangible."

"What if one of them does that and Danny's not around?" Sam said into Tucker's shoulder. "I can't hold them!"

Danny was distressed. He had no idea how to comfort her in this situation, because she was right. They had no idea if the twins could control their powers, so there was always a chance that even Jackson could fall from her arms.

Vlad, still with Jackson, went to Sam, placing his free hand on her back. She sniffed and looked up at him. "I believe I may have a solution," he said.

Her eyes lit up. "Really?"

"They aren't quite finished yet, but when I saw the white in their hair, I had a feeling they might have powers. I'm working on arm bands they can wear that will cancel out their powers to prevent exactly this," he explained.

Sam let go of Tucker and gently hugged Vlad around her son. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

–

A few more days later, and the twins were almost two weeks old. The parents were fairly tired by this point, but not complaining. Vlad was close to completing the bands, and Sam could not wait to feel secure holding her children again.

Danny told Sam to go have time to herself while he watched them. He'd done this a few times, and at first she took it as him just being a doting boyfriend. But then she started thinking he was using it as an excuse to spend more time with the twins.

He was absolutely smitten with them, and it was hard to get him to take a break. Sam figured it was a mixture of fantastic father who loved his kids, and protective ghost wanting to keep them near him in case of danger.

She'd just spent about an hour reading, one of her favorite things to do to unwind, but expected at least one of them might be getting hungry soon. She was breastfeeding, but they were glad they'd gotten the formula, as she was having a hard time keeping up with the demands of two very hungry infants.

Sam walked back to the bedroom, which is where she'd left them. She stopped in the hallway just outside the door and observed the new father entertaining the twins, who both happened to be awake at the same time.

He was sitting at the head of the bed, the twins on the bed in front of him. Danny was using his ice powers, making different geometric shapes out of ice, and swirling them around. His children's eyes couldn't quite follow them yet, but they still seemed to be enraptured by the sight.

"This one is a diamond," the ghost said, a beautiful 3D diamond shape forming just above his hand. He showed it to each of them, close enough their blurry vision might make out the shape, then made it spin, before twirling it around through the air.

The goth leaned against the door frame, smiling fondly at the scene. After a few minutes, she entered, causing Danny to look up. He grinned at her, his green eyes sparkling. She sat next to him, watching her children watch their father. "You're so good with them," she started before lightly smacking his shoulder. "See, I told you there was nothing to worry about."

The ghost made a star shape and made it dance around in the air above their heads. He still had a smile on his face, but it had tempered a bit with her statement. "You're right, but I still fear that I…" he paused, sighing. "That I might pass on this darkness in me," he admitted.

Sam placed a hand on his shoulder, brows drawn down in concern. "Danny, I have seen your heart, and it is radiant."

She felt like her eye might twitch when that guilty look from before passed over his face, before disappearing. She squeezed his shoulder, choosing to ignore it for now. "You're a wonderful dad. Don't ever forget that."

He glanced at her and smiled gratefully at her statement. Then Aurora yawned and Jackson started sucking on his fist. The ghost chuckled. "One is ready for a nap and the other is hungry."

"I figured one of them would be hungry soon," Sam commented before picking Jackson up to feed.

Danny picked up Aurora to get her settled in her bassinet, when Sam's gentle hand on his arm made him pause.

"Whatever happens, we'll face it together," she promised.

He watched her a moment, before his mouth twitched in a soft smile and nodded.

–

The next day Jazz and Tucker were over, Chase having been left with Tucker's parents for the time being. They were over for a night of karaoke.

Jazz eyed the infant on her brother's chest. "Are they going to be okay if we're singing? My husband isn't exactly quiet."

"No, I am not." Tucker agreed.

Danny chuckled lightly. "They sleep through anything, so I'm not worried about it."

Sam nodded her agreement. "I can pretty much vacuum next to their face and they have no clue."

The redhead shrugged. "Okay. And I brought you guys a gift." She reached into a bag she'd brought with her and pulled out a blanket. "This is a cooling blanket. Hopefully it'll allow others to hold Aurora without her getting so upset. It can give Danny a break now and then."

Sam grinned, taking the blanket when it was offered. "Thank you!"

Danny, meanwhile, looked mock offended, putting his hand on his daughter's back. "Maybe I don't want to share."

Sam rolled her eyes playfully, looking at Jazz. "I know for a fact he's already wrapped around her finger."

"Damn straight; I won't deny it," Danny said, with a raised brow.

"Okay, who is up first?" Sam asked, changing the subject and sticking her tongue out at the ghost who simply returned the gesture.

"Me first!" Tucker said excitedly, grabbing the mic and going through the menu of song options.

"Anyone bring noise canceling headphones?" Danny grinned at his dark-skinned friends' glare.

Tucker scrolled through before he got a wicked grin on his face. He picked one, laughing maniacally when the others instantly started complaining. He proceeded to sing his rendition of Ember McClain's "You Will Remember My Name". Obviously, his singing had NOT improved since high school.

Danny covered his daughter's ears and shook his head at his friend.

When that monstrosity was finally over, it was Jazz's turn. She picked a simple and short song, "Numb Little Bug" by Em Beihold. She wasn't a terribly good singer either, but was certainly better than her husband, generally keeping on key and with a pleasant voice.

The others laughed at her antics as she danced and mimed along to the lyrics, enjoying some time to unwind. At the end she bowed and the others clapped for her, her husband giving her a catcall which made her roll her eyes.

Danny stood then, giving Tucker the cooling blanket. The dark-skinned man was suddenly excited and reached out for his niece to hold while Danny took his turn. It was the first time he could hold her because of her strong dislike of warmth, and it was a good test for the blanket. The ghost tenderly handed his daughter over, waiting a few anxious moments while she settled. But she did settle, and Jazz grinned that her idea seemed to be working.

Danny grabbed the mic from his sister and went through the list of songs. He scrolled a bit before his eyes landed on a song from one of his favorite bands. It helped that the lyrics held some meaning for him, as they resonated some with his rebirth and the darkness he still felt within.

He hit play, a little nervous as it was his first time doing karaoke since before he was kidnapped, and the song started, almost immediately starting off with the familiar rock sounds he preferred in music.

"So far away, I'm dead awoken. And I'm faded out of breath. Life falls to gray; hope of the hopeless. And I pray without a prayer," he sang. Sam grinned, completely enraptured by his voice. His deep baritone translated beautifully to song and he held the notes and melody like he'd been singing most of his life. Even Tucker was wide-eyed at how well the ghost sang.

"Cut my cover down; in the hollow between, you find the venom in me. Rip my world apart; in the sorrow beneath, you find the devil in me." Mira had torn his world asunder just months prior, and since then, he'd felt the darkness trying to take back over. He felt like the devil for keeping his past from Sam, but the sorrow and shame he felt kept him from admitting to it.

He felt himself trying to choke up at the thought, and forced it back, clearing his throat before starting the chorus. "Stay forever in the light; I awaken, I arise. I still hear the call of life; I'm taken by the tide." Sam was the light in his life, almost literally, as it was the light and warmth of her soul that called him from wherever he'd been after he died. He heard her call and rose from the ashes.

Danny glanced at Sam and saw her tearing up a little. While he hadn't shared with Sam the Mira part, he had told her his musings when he'd first heard the song. She knew he felt it reflected his darkness, along with her light.

Sam wiped at her cheeks, annoyed at herself for getting emotional. She knew what this song meant to him and to hear him sing it so beautifully was getting to her. Blasted hormones!

He continued to sing, surprising them again when he even handled the screaming parts flawlessly.

When it ended he received a big round of applause and his cheeks burned green. He went to sit but Sam made him stay and grabbed a second mic before handing Jackson to Jazz. He gave her a questioning look. "We're doing one together," she said simply.

She scrolled through the list, picking the one she was looking for, and the music started. Danny made an 'Ah' face when he recognized "Bring me to Life" by Evanescence. It was one they had sung together before he was abducted and apparently, she wanted to try it again with his deeper voice.

Sam started singing, and while she was no Amy Lee, she still had a melody to her voice that was nice, and she stayed on tune. She didn't sound much different than she had as a teen, except, perhaps a little better with age and experience.

Danny didn't disappoint either, and the goth was happy she picked this song when he started picking up his parts.

Once over, they mock bowed before Sam giggled, feeling like they were all back in high school again. It gave her a sense of calm and peace to see how far they'd come and what they'd overcome to be here.

–

10/18/24: Again, short, but sweet (mostly). Prepare for the next one!

The song Danny sings for karaoke is "Awaken" by Breaking Benjamin. This is a brand new release, their first true new song in almost 5 years. They've been my favorite band since their creation nearly 20 years ago. FANTASTIC SONG! I highly encourage you listen to it, especially because Benjamin's voice is very close to how I picture Danny would sing it with his different voice in this story.

I do not own any of the songs listed in this chapter!