MCA #0, Saturday Morning

[grenadesandohana]

Grace was here which meant that if Steve played his cards right, banana and chocolate chip pancakes might be breakfast this morning.

He did his best to make that true by starting a pot of the expensive Kona coffee before heading out for his morning swim and was now back in the house, checking to see if he was still the only one awake.

And that his mom hadn't showed up yet.

"Danno?"

Comments

[hatesparadise]

There was a still sleepy looking Grace at the table, playing on her phone and a Danny working on those pancakes because someone made the good coffee first thing in the morning. Which was pretty endearing.

"In here, babe!"

[grenadesandohana]

"Morning," Steve said with a lopsided grin at Danny and a more normal one at Grace, who might not even see it.

[lovesparadise]

"Morning, Uncle Steve," Grace said, definitely not looking up.

[grenadesandohana]

"You sleep okay?" he asked with a smile.

[hatesparadise]

"Yeah," Grace said, only glancing up when Danny put a glass of orange juice down in front of her. He shared a glance with Steve over her head. Teens, you know?

[grenadesandohana]

Steve's grin turned rueful and he poured himself a cup of coffee, then topped off Danny's without thinking about it.

[hatesparadise]

"Thanks," Danny said, smiling back at him and not seeing the sideways glance Grace was giving them both.

It wasn't too different from how they normally acted, but...

[grenadesandohana]

"Of Course," Steve said. "I want to get rid of the good stuff before Mom gets here."

Mean, Steve.

[hatesparadise]

Danny snorted at that. "She's, uh, she said why she's really here yet?"

[grenadesandohana]

"Mentioned that Joe thought it might be nice since she was on this side of the country anyway," Steve said, "but nothing other than that."

Dinner had been awkward.

[hatesparadise]

Danny could really only imagine.

"Can we--" He jerked his head over to the next room. "Grace, you okay in here for a moment?"

To which he got a long suffering sigh and a, "I'm not a little kid, dad."

"Duly noted," Danny replied dryly.

[grenadesandohana]

Steve took his coffee with him as he followed Danny. "What's up?" he asked.

[hatesparadise]

"We, uh--" Danny said quietly, glancing back to make sure Grace wasn't listening in. "We didn't talk about what we were gonna tell her."

[grenadesandohana]

Steve bit his lower lip. "Oh. Just straight out, I think. She's a smart kid."

[hatesparadise]

"You're okay with that?" Danny was... mostly okay with that. But he always worried about introducing a relationship to his kid. Always.

[grenadesandohana]

"I'm not comfortable keeping it from her now that she's here," Steve admitted quietly.

And that sofa was hell on his back.

[hatesparadise]

There was that, yes.

Danny took a deep breath, letting it out as he nodded in agreement. "Alright. Then we tell her."

Give him a moment to get his head straight so he didn't psych himself out of it.

[grenadesandohana]

Steve reached out to touch his shoulder. "Breathe, Danny," he said softly.

[hatesparadise]

"I'm breathing," Danny replied, doing just as he was told anyway. "I'm just... I'm anxious, you know? This is Grace."

Who was his kid. And thus the most important person in his life.

[grenadesandohana]

"Yeah," Steve said, taking a deep breath of his own. "And she comes first. And...and if she's not okay with this, I'll move out."

[hatesparadise]

Danny shot him a look that was equal parts amused and exacerbated before pulling Steve forward for a brief kiss. "I'm supposed to be the pessimist here."

[grenadesandohana]

Steve kissed him back. "Well, I know I'm a distinct number two," he murmured.

[hatesparadise]

"But in this you know why, right? Danny asked keeping a hand on Steve's neck and spreading up to his cheek.

He couldn't be that parent who put his romantic relationships before his kids.

[grenadesandohana]

"Of course I know why," Steve said, meeting Danny's eyes. "It's one of the very first things I knew about you."

[hatesparadise]

Danny let out another breath and nodded before kissing him one more time. "C'mon. Before she decides to come looking for us."