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“Hey, Steve, I’ve got all that paperwork finished for you. I – ”
Before Danny could finish his sentence, he found himself shoved up against the doorframe of Steve’s office with a very warm, muscled body pressed tight against his and lips he knew all too well drowning his words. Steve pulled away after a short but passionate moment and grinned.
“I’ve been waiting all morning to do that,” he said, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.
“I – what?” Danny asked, confused over the sudden kiss with no reason behind it.
Steve pointed above their heads and Danny followed his finger up, catching sight of the mistletoe hanging from the doorframe. He groaned.
“Only you, Steve, would do something like that. Tell me, did you kiss Kono and Chin too?”
Steve trailed a finger over Danny’s lower lip. “Nah, they would have decked me for trying. They thought the idea was cute though.” He grinned down at his partner and the love of his life. “Ready to decorate the Christmas palm tree?”
To Danny’s credit, only one eye twitched at the mention of the palm tree – the team’s tradition ever since they had formed five years before. Last year had been the most memorable as it had been the first Christmas Steve and Danny had been together not just as partners, but as a couple as well. Next to his favorite picture of Grace on his desk, Danny now had a picture framed of him pretending to lasso Steve with Christmas lights in front of the infamous Christmas palm tree that he always bitched about that had been taken last year. That was one of his fondest memories of their time together. This Christmas was supposed to be a continuation of that, with new traditions and surprises for them, but fate seemed to have thrown a monkey wrench into that.
Danny shook his head. “I don’t feel up to decorating the tree right now.” When Steve’s brows furrowed, he continued. “Rachel called. Stan was complaining about wanting a redo for last Christmas since they took care of Grace during the holiday when she had that strep throat bug. He wants a ‘real’ Christmas with her this year, even though it’s supposed to be my year with her.”
“Oh Danny,” Steve said softly, reaching out a hand to soothingly run through his partner’s hair.
Danny shied away from his touch though. “What could I do? I owed Stan after he helped us two weeks ago with that smuggling ring case. I told Grace that I loved her and for her to have a fun day.”
He looked up at Steve, eyes full of hurt. “It’s Christmas Eve and I don’t get to do any of the fun things I planned with her. We were supposed to decorate the palm tree here and then go pick her up and spend the next two days together. Stupid Step-Stan got in the way again.”
Danny stuck his hands in his pockets after dropping the folders on Steve’s desk and slouched.
“Danny, we can still do Christmas stuff together. And besides, you’ll get to see her tomorrow night. It’s not the end of the world.”
“No, you don’t understand! It is the end of the world. Grace’s growing up so fast. I already missed last Christmas because she was so sick. This year was supposed to make up for that. I don’t get very many of these holidays left with her before she’s grown up and doing her own thing! I just – I feel like I’m losing what little time I have with her, Steve.”
Danny was pacing, eyebrows knit together and jaw set in anger. Steve just leaned against the doorframe with his arms folded, letting him get it out.
“This isn’t fair, Steve. I had all these great things planned for us to do with her, especially since it was going to be her first Christmas with us now that we’re dating and now Stan’s gone and ruined it!”
“I know, Danny, I kn – ”
Danny held up a hand. “No. You don’t.” He inhaled deeply. “I think I need some air. I’m going for a drive. I’ll see you at home in a few hours.”
He grabbed the keys to their car off Steve’s desk and stormed past Steve without a kiss or a backward glance. Steve just watched him go, chewing his lip and thinking. Chin and Kono walked up, boxes of lights and ornaments in hand.
“You okay, boss?” Kono asked, concerned.
Steve nodded, digging out his phone.
“Yeah, I’ve got a plan. And I need both of you to help.”
Several hours later, after driving around most of the island and finally stopping at a deserted cliff to sit and calm down while watching the waves, Danny pulled into the driveway of Steve’s house. He smiled, seeing the lights hanging from the eves of the home they now shared. It had taken a while, but Danny had finally come to terms with what felt like losing out to Stan again. He stepped out of the car and took a deep breath, knowing he needed to apologize to Steve for his outburst earlier. He hadn’t meant to hurt Steve – he wasn’t entirely sure if he had because of how thick the man’s skin was from his time as a SEAL – and Danny hadn’t mean to yell at him.
He opened the front door and heard a joyful shriek of “Danno!” seconds before Grace tackled him. Hearing a soft chuckle, he looked up and saw Steve standing by the couch, a Santa hat perched on his head and a smile on his face.
“How did you – ?”
“Steve agreed to help Mom with her new landscaping project next week,” Grace said, looking up at him. She smiled and lowered her voice, “I don’t think he knows that she wants to put in a big fountain and a gazebo.”
Danny couldn’t do anything but chuckle and hug his daughter, mouthing over her shoulder his thanks to Steve, who nodded and winked. Grace then grabbed his hand and drug him into the living room where a real fir tree stood, decorated in lights and ornaments, complete with wrapped gifts underneath the twinkling lights.
“Danno, look! We got a real Christmas tree!”
Grace started pointing out some of the ornaments that she had helped picked out while out shopping with Steve. With his free hand, Danny reached over and took Steve’s hand in his, squeezing tightly. The palm tree they had decorated two weeks before was gone and Danny sighed happily; it was beginning to feel like a real Christmas.
“What else did you and Steve get up to while I was gone?” Danny asked, still shocked that Steve had been able to find a real fir tree on the island on Christmas Eve.
His daughter grinned up at him and said, “We dug out all the Christmas movies to watch later and bought stuff to make Christmas cookies.”
“We even got a gingerbread house to build and decorate,” Steve said, the smile still beaming on his face.
Danny picked up Grace then in one arm and hugged Steve.
“My two little Christmas elves! I love you guys.”
Grace hopped down and tugged Danny into the kitchen.
“We were just about to make sugar cookies. We need your help!”
Danny took in the state of the kitchen and couldn’t help but laugh. Powdered sugar and flour were everywhere. The counter was covered in ingredients, bowls, cookie sheets, and on the island sat two dozen still warm snowball cookies. Danny looked up at Steve and tried not to laugh at the sight of powdered sugar stuck on Steve’s cheek.
“C’mere, Steve, you’ve got a little something on your face.”
Steve grinned and leaned forward, expecting Danny to wipe off the white powder on his face but yelped in surprise when Danny quickly dipped a few fingers inside the bowl of powdered sugar on the counter and smeared them across Steve’s other cheek. Danny grinned triumphantly until Grace jumped in on the action and scooped a small handful up of the sugar and tossed it at Danny. Suddenly, the air was full of powdered sugar as Steve tossed some as well and the kitchen turned into a free-for-all fight with the confection. Peals of laughter filled the air over the Christmas music playing from the surround sound and Danny smiled. This was definitely turning into a year to remember.
The next few hours went by quickly as the three made sugar cookies and chocolate nobakes before making dinner and watching White Christmas while eating. Afterwards, Steve brought the gingerbread kit to the coffee table and they set about making the gingerbread house while both Charlie Brown Christmas specials played on the television. Grace and Steve decorated the house with all kinds of gumdrops, chocolate chips, and colored frosting while Danny built a small palm tree in front of the house with green licorice.
When he caught Steve’s quirked eyebrows, he said, “Well, we’ve got to have a palm tree as part of our Christmas since ours is gone now.” At Steve’s laugh, he grumbled, “I still don’t like them though!”
Grace just giggled and said, “I think you’re starting to like them, Danno. You only complain about something when you like it.”
“That’s not true! I complain about stuff I don’t like too. Like Steve’s driving, or bad guys, or no snow during Christmas.” He leaned forward and said, “Tell me, my little Christmas elves, did you find a way to make it snow tonight in the midst of all this Christmas plotting?”
Grace laughed again and Steve shook his head but before he could say anything the famed Linus and Lucy song started playing from the television. All three turned to watch for a moment until Grace remarked that it looked like a fun way to dance. Steve hopped up and pulled her to her feet.
“It’s easy, Grace. You’ve just got to move with the music!”
Danny nearly died laughing as Steve started imitating the Peanuts’ dancing and Grace smiled before joining in. Amidst the laughter that bubbled up from deep in his chest, Danny dug out his phone and recorded the moment – partly as blackmail to show Kono and Chin in a few days, but mostly to remember this moment years down the road. He watched his two favorite people in the world dance to the classic song and smiled. This was the perfect Christmas.
A few hours later, Grace was tucked in for the night after Steve and Danny read a few of their favorite Christmas stories with her, including part of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Danny stood in the living room, with the lights off, taking in the sight of the tree, its lights still glowing brightly. Steve came up behind him and Danny leaned against him, smiling when Steve’s arms wrapped around him.
“Thank you, for everything today.”
Steve kissed the top of Danny’s head and smiled. “You’re welcome. I saw how upset you were this morning and had to do something.”
Danny cringed. “About this morning. I’m really sorry for yelling at you. I shouldn’t have taken my frustration out on you like that.”
Steve buried his face in the crook of Danny’s shoulder and sighed. “It’s all right, Danny. I forgive you. It wasn’t a big deal. We’ve had worst fights during shootouts.”
A chuckle met his reply and Steve nuzzled his nose against Danny’s neck, leaving a trail of warm air in its wake.
“Tell me one thing,” Danny said. “How in the blue blazes did you manage to get that tree?”
“Kono and Chin pulled some strings while I picked up Grace and went shopping for ornaments and the cookie stuff.”
There was a pause where Steve could almost hear Danny wondering how he’d managed to get Grace for the day. He smiled and spoke up.
“I called Rachel after you left. I told her how much this had meant to you and she understood. Like Grace said, Rachel agreed that Grace could stay with us tonight and through tomorrow evening if I helped her landscape next week.”
Danny laughed. “If you throw out your back moving that fountain, does this mean I have to take care of your whining ass?”
“Who says I whine when I’m hurt?”
A snort greeted Steve’s response as Danny turned in his arms.
“Says every injury you’ve had in the five years I’ve known you, you big wimp.”
Steve stuck out his tongue before Danny leaned up and kissed him.
“I love you, Steve. Today meant so much to me. Thank you.”
He broke away to wander into the kitchen to snag a nobake and came back into the living room, munching on the chocolate and oatmeal creation. Steve was standing by the tree, fidgeting with a few of the branches at shoulder-level.
“Does this ornament look like it’s in the right spot to you?” he asked over his shoulder.
Danny just rolled his eyes and spoke around the mouthful of cookie. “Yes, Steve, it looks fine.”
“No, I think we need to move it to a gap in the lower branches. Come over here and tell me what you think.”
Danny sighed and swallowed the last of the cookie before joining Steve in front of the tree. He squinted at the branches Steve had been messing with.
“I don’t see any problem with the ornament. It looks –”
It was then that Danny spotted something in the branches; a small, black velvet box. His mouth opened in a silent “oh” as he gently pulled it out of the tree. Steve took the box from his hands and knelt down on knee. He cleared his throat, nervous energy flitting across his face before being replaced by a smile.
“Danny, I’ve known you for five years, first as a partner and now as a lover too. I know we’ve had our moments where we’ve wanted to kill each other – most of them during gunfights. But I have always loved you. You are my other half, my best friend, my everything. I love you so much.”
Steve opened the ring box, revealing a simple platinum band.
“Danno, will you do me the incredible honor of marrying me?”
Danny’s mouth still hung open in shock as his knees gave out and he sank down in front of Steve. A squeak sounded in his throat before he cleared it and looked up, eyes bright and smiling, at Steve.
“Yes,” he whispered.
Steve lunged forward, tackling Danny to the floor and kissed him. His hands tangled in Danny’s hair and he smiled into the kiss. After a moment, he pulled them upright and took the ring out of the box.
“There’s something I wanted you to see before I put the ring on you,” Steve said.
He held the ring near one of the clear lights on the tree and tilted it so that Danny could see the inside of the band. Danny pulled the ring close to his eyes, looking at the words engraved there. He looked up at Steve but before he could ask, Steve answered.
“It’s Hawaiian for ‘my love, my partner’. I figured it described the two halves of our relationship perfectly.”
Steve pulled his dogtags out from under his shirt and over his head. On the chain, next to the metal tags was an identical ring.
“On mine, I have the English translation. That way, you have the Hawaiian – and a little part of me – and I have the English, a little part of you.”
“Steve,” Danny whispered, overcome with the inscription, as Steve slipped the ring onto his finger.
He took the chain from Steve’s hand then and popped it open to take the ring off. Danny took Steve’s hand in his and gently slid the ring on. He kissed Steve once more, tenderly and slowly in the lights of the tree.
“This really is the perfect Christmas,” Danny said softly.
Steve nipped Danny’s lower lip and smiled. A wicked glint settled in his eyes.
“Not quite the perfect Christmas just yet. I still have one more surprise in store for you.”
Danny arched an eyebrow, smiling. “You’re crazy and I love you.”
Steve stood and led him to their bedroom, where he had fixed a cluster of mistletoe over their bed. Danny’s laughter was swallowed in Steve’s kiss.