Well this was it then, this was the end.

Danny sat in the Camaro and stared at his hands. Steve wasn't ready for another kid, he'd basically shown that when Danny had teased him over Joan when Mary came to stay. So how the hell was he going to take this, when the blonde could barely take it in himself?

The string of texts coming through on his phone had interrupted their Saturday morning Steve's-not-allowed-to-go-swimming sex, and it had been Rachel. He remembered thinking at the time that your ex wife interrupting sex with your new husband should be illegal, and subject to corporal punishment... so what about ruining your relationship altogether?

He'd been getting on so well with Rachel recently, she'd been so supportive of him and Steve, and then she had dropped this bombshell.

Because Charlie was his.

He had a little boy that he hadn't known was his, missed out on interacting with this kid as a father to a son for four years! He was angry and upset and tired and confused, and he just wanted to run to Steve and have the big neanderthal envelop him in his arms and not ever have to move or think again. But he couldn't do that, because Steve would want an explanation. He'd want to make it better, like he always did.

Danny checked his phone again. Rachel had sent him through the details of his appointment with the hospital. The only reason she'd even told him about Charlie in the first place. He was sick and Danny's bone marrow could be a half-match to help him. Lord knows how long this would have gone on without him knowing if the boy hadn't been ill...

But those were questions for another time. He'd spent the morning playing with Charlie at the park and putting his anxiety and fury to one side while he got to know the kid a little. He was bright and intelligent, in a seemingly constant state of excitement like kids that age tended to be, and he'd helped Danny forget about what he now had to do... go home and tell his husband of just a few months that he had a step-son.

What the actual fuck? How was this Danny's life? Things were just starting to go right, and now this!

He climbed out of the car and walked slowly up the front path, legs feeling like concrete, weighing him down.

When he opened the door, Steve was no where to be seen. He went through to the kitchen and spotted his partner out on the lanai, lazing on one of the lounge chairs in board shorts, sandals and a blue Navy t-shirt that set off his gorgeous eyes and displayed his physique nicely.

Danny grabbed two beers from the fridge and popped the lids, steeling himself for the conversation he was about to have. Steve didn't do commitment easily, he knew that. It was a miracle they were married, and of course he loved Grace but she had been part of the package right from the start. Charlie was a surprise for everyone. For the first time in his life, Danny was completely at a loss as to how he thought his lover might react. Seeing as the usual was 'be in a mood and blow stuff up', he considered hiding all the artillery in the house, but realised he probably didn't know where all of it was anyway...

"Hey babe," he arrived at Steve's shoulder and tapped it with one of the Longboards.

"Heya, everything okay with Rachel?" Steve took it and reached down to squeeze Danny's leg.

"Yeah, that's uh... I need to talk to you about that, Steve," Danny moved to around to sit on the other lounger, feet on the ground and facing Steve with the bottle clasped in both hands between his knees. His elbows rested on his thighs and his shoulders slumped, and he knew Steve could immediately tell something was wrong.

The brunette sat up with a worried look, placing his forgotten beer on the table. "What's wrong? Is it Rachel? Is it Grace?" He turned to face the detective, mirroring his posture.

He was so concerned, bless his heart, all wide eyes and reaching for Danny's knee. The blonde picked the beer up again and shoved it into Steve's hands.

"No, they're fine. But you're gonna need this..."

"Danny, you're worrying me. What's going on?" Steve took the beer absently, but his other hand was squeezing the Jersey man's knee and his concerned hazel-blue eyes were searching Danny's face for some clue as to what was going on. The blonde couldn't keep the eye contact, and stared at their feet between them. He slid his free hand over Steve's on his leg and tangled their fingers together.

He took a deep breath and pressed on. "Rachel needed to talk to me about Charlie, Steve. He's sick and he needs bone marrow from someone who will be the closest match possible... she... she needs bone marrow from his father..."

His partner looked confused, "So she needed your help with Stan? Is he being difficult?"

Danny finally made eye contact. "No... Stan's... he's not the father, Steve..."

The brunette creased his brow, opened his mouth and looked Danny up and down before realisation dawned on him. He sat up straight and removed his hand from Danny's knee, pulling it from his grasp as well.

"How long have you known?"

Danny was stunned by the question, "Uh, well around three hours now. What, you think I'd keep this from you? You think I'd marry you without telling you I had another kid? You think I'd have been anything but a father to that boy if I'd known he was mine all this time?" What kind of a man did Steve think he was?

The SEAL shook his head and sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face, "I... no… I don't know Danny, this is a lot to take in..."

Danny put his beer in the sand and pressed the heels of the hands into his eyes. "Yeah, it really is..."

Steve put his bottle on the table again. Neither of them had even taken a sip yet. He stood up and took a few steps toward the door and Danny rose as well. Steve put a hand out towards him to stop him coming closer.

"I'm sorry Danny, I need to process this."

His shoulders slumped again, "But Steve-"

"Danny, I can't do this right now, I need to... I'm sorry..." Steve walked away, into the house. Danny thudded back down onto the lounger and ran his hands through his hair. Then he heard the Silverado's engine start up out front and sighed loudly.

This had ruined everything.

He woke up in the bed, wearing just the sweatpants he had changed into. It was 10pm according to the clock, but he had been woken by the sounds of power tools downstairs. Specifically, a drill.

Steve hadn't returned by the time he'd eventually changed and thrown himself into bed, trying to ignore his aching heart. He'd spent the afternoon and evening sloping around the house and drinking all the beers he could find, feeling sorry for himself, so he was feeling a little fuzzy. But that was definitely a drill.

The blonde dragged himself from the bed and down the stairs, and upon entering the kitchen he found Steve on his knees, lower kitchen cupboards and drawers all open, screwing a chunk of metal to the inside of one of the doors.

"What are you doing?"

Steve looked up at him and smiled, before standing. "Well if our son is going to be visiting, we need child locks... This place is a death trap!"

Danny's heart attempted to exit his body through his throat, tears pricked the corner of his eyes.

"Our son?" He croaked.

Steve approached him slowly, curling his arms around Danny's bare back and dipping down to kiss him tenderly. The blonde slipped his hands around his lover's waist and squeezed tight, so glad to just have him back in his arms. The SEAL's tongue slipped into his mouth and he parted his lips further to allow him complete access. It was deep and loving, and Danny's hot tears finally spilled down his cheeks.

Steve broke the kiss and wiped the wet streaks away with his thumbs. "Yes, our son, Danny. 'Cause you know what I realised when I was out? We're married."

Danny creased his brow. "Yeah, you noticed that, huh?" he teased.

Steve smirked at him, but carried on. "Marriage means what's mine is yours and what's yours is mine… And we stand by each other. So I'm sorry, I'm sorry about the way I reacted earlier. I was confused and I say stupid things sometimes."

Danny smiled and nodded in agreement, and Steve bashed him lightly on the arm.

"But," he continued, "I thought about it after I left and... I'm really excited actually. I mean I know he's sick, but once he's better I can teach him how to surf, right? And we can-"

He was cut off by Danny's lips crashing into his again as the blonde brought him down with a hand behind his head and pushed him against the doorjamb. He was too fucking perfect not to kiss.

Steve sighed happily, huffing air against his lover's cheek as he kissed him back. It turned more passionate, heated, and their hands began to explore each other. Danny pulled at the clothing that stood between him and his husband's bare skin, and the SEAL wasted no time in pulling his t-shirt over his head, scarcely breaking the kiss before their lips were back together.

Their clothing was discarded, piece by piece, as Steve backed the detective out of their kitchen, through the lounge, and up the stairs, their lips almost constantly connected. Despite barely looking where they were going, they ended up in the bedroom, where Danny shoved his partner down onto the bed and crawled over him, straddling his thighs.

"How did you get so fucking perfect?" He smiled down on his lover, who just grinned back at him.

"I learned from the best," Steve whispered as he ran his hands up Danny's thighs.

The detective leaned down to plaster his lips against his partner's again while reaching for the drawer and fumbling inside for the lube.

"I love you so much," he mumbled against Steve's mouth, not wanting to part from him even to speak. The SEAL tried to take the bottle from Danny's hand, but he pulled it away and coated his own fingers, throwing it down on the bed. The brunette watched in fascination as his lover leaned back and slid his fingers into his own ass and moaned, probably a little louder than was required, purely for Steve's benefit.

"Fuck you're gorgeous," he complimented, "How did I get so lucky?" Danny blushed a little. It felt a little strange to be embarrassed at being told he was attractive when he was kneeling over his partner with his fingers up his ass, but that's apparently how his brain worked.

Steve sat up, his hands caressing every inch of his lover's body. He kissed over his chest and licked at his nipples, taking one into his mouth to suck and nibble at gently before moving to the other, while his fingertips massaged Danny's ass cheeks, parting them to aid in his prep.

The blonde had his head thrown back and was moaning almost continously, Steve's hot mouth all over his body felt wonderful, like it was meant to be there. His free hand was stroking the back of the SEAL's head, encouraging him to continue. He was already using two fingers, and now graduated to three, while one of Steve's hands slipped around to envelop his straining cock.

"Oh, fuck..." he sighed and pushed through his partner's fisted hand, nerve endings firing pleasure up his spine to his brain. The brunette began nipping his teeth over Danny's ribs, as far down as he could reach in his position, and the detective jumped slightly with every scrape of teeth.

"Back, back against the headboard," he gasped, and Steve obeyed, scooting backward, waiting for Danny to settle over him again before lifting his knees so the blonde was effectively trapped, not that he was planning on going anywhere.

He lubed up his husband's cock, stroking him with both hands and making him writhe and huff. Then he grasped the back of the man's head and crushed their lips together as he slowly sank onto him. Danny took his time sliding down his partner's full length, taking every delicious inch of him hungrily, licking along the line of his mouth and slipping his tongue inside, moaning into him. When Steve was finally fully sheathed within him, he allowed himself to adjust to the stretch while biting at the man's lower lip.

And then Danny began to move on his lover. However much he wanted to just ride Steve into the mattress, he equally needed to draw this out for as long as possible, so his actions were slow and precise, and he released Steve's lips so he could lean his head back and grip the headboard with both hands. The brunette licked over the detective's collarbone, before settling his teeth lightly over the exact spot where he had left scars almost a year before, his hands running up his partner's back to drag nails down his shoulders while he growled possessively into Danny's chest.

The erotic noise and the sharp sensations went straight to Danny's cock, raising goosebumps on his skin, and he sighed deeply, content in the knowledge that Steve owned him and he owned Steve. The bite scars were faded a little now, but they would never entirely go away - his lover had marked his flesh like he'd marked his heart.

Danny drew every movement out, extending it to its limit, almost torturing himself and his partner; but it was a sweet kind of hell. The longer he took, the longer they could last, and the more pleasure they could both derive from it. They stayed like that for what felt like hours, the blonde gradually lifting and lowering himself, placing his own restrictions on his speed and angle, unlike the last time in this position when Steve had made him go this slowly.

Fuck, it felt like heaven, even with the sweat dripping down his spine and the burn in his thigh muscles – it was a gradual build to what would be a well-deserved climax.

The man beneath him was breathing heavily against his pecs, cursing and groaning, occasionally licking over his shoulders and collarbone, tasting the salt on his skin. He left a wet trailed of open-mouthed kisses up his throat, palms flat on his back and fingers splayed out. One of Danny's hands had moved to sit in between Steve's shoulder blades, while the other still gripped the headboard with white knuckles.

He could feel his orgasm building, his abdominal muscles tightening, and Steve's breaths were shortening, his big hands gripping tighter and pulling at him, becoming more insistent. He finally allowed Steve to take the control he so desperately craved, moving his body as his partner guided him, and the brunette began to moan louder against him as Danny's movements became faster.

"Fuck, Danny, I want you, I need you. You don't understand!"

The blonde grasped at his lover's jaw, bringing his face up to look at him. "I understand exactly," he whispered before dipping down to kiss him deeply, riding his partner hard and deep like he had wanted to from the start, the strain in his thighs feeling glorious even though he knew they'd hurt in the morning, "I know because I need you too, babe."

Steve grabbed his ass to bring him down hard onto his dick, pulling him forward and changing the angle slightly. He raised him up and slammed him down again, using leverage from his feet planted firmly on the mattress to drive up into him simultaneously, and Danny cried out as his lover hit his prostate over and over as his cock plunged into him. The brunette licked one hand and took hold of the detective's cock, massaging him into a frenzy, and Danny scratched his nails down Steve's neck.

The SEAL howled his husband's name as he climaxed hard, pulsing his come deep inside Danny, bucking up into him forcefully and hitting his sweet spot with stunning accuracy. The spike of electricity which shot up Danny's spine short circuited his brain momentarily, and when he regained the ability to breathe and open his eyes, he had collapsed forward against Steve and spilled his heat between the two of them. Their stomachs and chests were now coated with a sticky mess as they grasped at each other, and they panted hard into one another's necks.

"Holy fuck..." Steve gasped against his skin, sending tingles up his neck, "God, that was amazing..."

Danny was still having problems with the English language, having to settle for a long, gentle moan, and pressing his forehead against his lover's shoulder.

He wanted to stay there forever, Steve slowly going soft inside him, snuggled against his partner, his best friend. But he'd lost the feeling in his lower legs, and eventually had to ease himself off the brunette to flop onto his back.

"You and I need a shower," Steve was above him with a toothy grin.

"No no, no m'vin'..." was all Danny could mumble in reply, still bringing his pulse and breathing back to normal.

The SEAL laughed, "Okay, I think we both need a few minutes to recover..." He stretched out along the blonde's side like an overly indulgent cat, cuddling into him with his head on his shoulder and slipping a hand over his tacky stomach.

They awoke around an hour later, having accidentally let themselves drift off, Steve stirring first and kissing Danny on his cheek to bring him out of his slumber.

"Hey, you. Shower," he whispered.

Danny actually felt like moving could be an option now, and waited for the brunette to shift off him before pulling himself to a sitting position.

"I love you so, so much," Danny smiled at his lover.

Steve paused halfway to the bathroom door. "I'm sorry about earlier," he looked down at his feet, "I'm sorry I just walked out on you, I... I should have stayed and talked it through with you..."

Danny stood and took his chin, making eye contact with the SEAL. "No, babe. If you needed space to think, it's fine, I get that. I had my thinking time before I got home, you had it all thrown at you."

Steve gave him a small smile. "I didn't mean to worry you. Just know that there's nothing that could be thrown at us that we can't deal with together. Nothing we can't handle as long as it's you and me."

Danny squeezed his partner's ass and kissed him softly, "No, nothing we can't cope with. Because you're my back up," he winked, "and I'm yours."

They kissed again and Danny sighed contentedly before releasing his lover and heading for the bathroom.

"I'm thinking after we've had a shower, we should get one of your ties out of the closet…"

Danny glanced back at him, "Oh yeah? Why's that?"

Steve sniggered, "I dunno, maybe just thinking about that time I broke into your house… you remember that?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Of course Danny did, it was what had started their relationship down this new road.

"Oh, I do seem to recall that incident," he smiled at his husband as he turned the shower on, ready for round two already and licking his lips just thinking about their first time. The brunette advanced on him, and they kissed deeply. "Although you did have my key, so technically, it was never actually a break in..."