As was the norm Steve woke just before dawn. Groaning slightly, he shifted before looking down at the blond head resting on his chest. A smile appeared on his face as he ran a hand through the hair. This was always his favourite part of his morning; just lying in bed with Danny wrapped in his arms.
Throwing a glance at the clock, he saw the time and knew he needed to get up. Carefully shifting Danny, he eased his body out from under him and got out of bed, chuckling softly when Danny groaned and buried his face into Steve's pillow.
Grabbing his shorts and pulling them on along with a sleeveless t-shirt, Steve left the bedroom and headed to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and relieved himself before walking back out and heading down the hallway. He opened the bedroom door and looked in, smiling at the sight of Grace on the bed. He shook his head when he saw that half of the covers were off of her.
'Like father like daughter,' Steve thought as he walked over to the bed and fixed the covers over the little girl. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he turned and walked back out the bedroom, heading back down the hallway and towards the stairs.
Steve walked towards the back door, grabbing the towel that was hanging from a hook on the door that he always used. Out on the lanai, he dropped the towel on one of the chairs before heading down to the beach.
~...~
Danny woke about ten minutes after Steve left the bed. Yawning, he got up, stretched and headed to the bathroom. Ten minutes later, he came out and then went to check on his daughter. Satisfied that she was ok, he left her room and headed downstairs.
Walking into the kitchen, Danny threw a glance outside and saw Steve's towel on the chair on the lanai. Knowing where his lover was, Danny shook his head and proceeded to make breakfast. Grumbling under his breath about health nuts, he made Steve's breakfast-toasted wheat bread with sliced ham and lettuce-while he made a separate breakfast for him.
When he was done, he placed Steve's breakfast on the table and covered it, while he took his own out on the lanai and sat down on a chair. His gaze moved down the beach and he saw Steve's body diving through the water and he couldn't help but to smile. He always loved watching him in the ocean; it was like Steve was in his element then.
As his blue eyes settled on his partner's form, Danny's mind went over the last few weeks. He and Steve had been together for almost three months now and he couldn't be happier. Never in his life had he thought he would find happiness again and he never thought it'd be with his partner. After Rachel, he had been sure that that would've been the last time he would've been happy with someone and then Steve had come along and had blown his life upside down. The two had started off on a rocky start, but eventually, they had been able to work together and had come to mutually like and respect each other and now, Danny couldn't imagine not knowing Steve or not having him in his life, even with all his crazy stunts.
He hadn't thought he and Steve would be together, until a case a few months ago. They had been chasing a small drug ring and Danny had been injured when they had finally confronted the head of the ring. Despite the fact that he was wearing a vest, the bullet had caught him under his arm. He had been rushed to the hospital immediately with Steve holding his hand every step of the way. It was while in the ambulance, when he was losing consciousness due to the blood loss and his vitals being unstable, that Steve had admitted how he felt about him. It wasn't until a day later when he was in recovery had he finally gotten a chance to talk to his partner and he had admitted he felt the same. They had been together ever since.
Of course Grace had been told immediately and the little girl couldn't have been happier. She adored Steve and she knew that Steve had made her Danno happy and was glad they were together. In her mind, the three of them were a true family and she was closer to them than she was with her mother and Step-Stan.
